John Stobart, 93, March 2,2023, Medfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Stobart was a renowned maritime artist who specialized in highly detailed and historically accurate depictions of ships and seaports. (His work was the subject of a feature article in WB No. 223.) Mr. Stobart grew up in Leicester, England, where he struggled in school because of attention-deficit issues and an unsupportive father; his mother died when he was an infant. From a young age, he showed talent in drawing, and during a family trip to Liverpool at age 8, he became captivated by the busy port. Portraying ships in evocative and painstakingly researched historical settings became his life's work. He attended Derby College of Arts and Crafts, and later, on a scholarship, the Royal Academy of Arts, where he was unusual for his preference for working outdoors-in the "plein air" style-to paint River Thames shipping instead of classical studio subjects. He graduated in 1955, after which his father, then living in Rhodesia, sent him on a voyage from London to Cape Town, South Africa, which only reinforced his fascination with seaports. Among British shipping company owners, he found a ready market for his paintings and fresh commissions that involved overseas travel. Weary of class-stratified London, he emigrated in 1957 to Toronto, Ontario, which opened a new world to him of North American maritime historical subjects. In 1967, he had his first solo showing at a New York City gallery, where his reputation preceded him and all 20 paintings on exhibit sold, which encouraged more gallery commitments in North America and Europe. In 1970, he emigrated again, first to Darien, Connecticut, later to the Washington, D.C., area, where he opened his own gallery, and finally to Medfield and a winter residence in Florida. In 1978, he and others founded the American Society of Marine Artists. Among his numerous awards and honors, he was named to the National Academy of Design in New York and the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London in 1979. His college in Derby awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2008. In 1988, he established the Stobart Foundation in Medfield to support recent art graduates working in the plein-air style as they transition to lives as professional artists, as he had so successfully done.
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