Charles Brooking (1723‐1759) and the 18th Century British Maritime Painters

The introduction to this book declares that Charles Brooking is “now generally acknowledged by maritime historians as the most accomplished of all eighteenth‐century British marine painters”, but his career was such an obscure one that 30 years of research by the author (an experienced naval officer and painter) has resulted in only nine pages of biography. Brooking, like other painters of the period, appears to have been exploited by dealers, and died in poverty before reaching middle age. But his paintings still speak for him, and Commander Joel’s efforts have produced the first catalogue of them, which forms the core...