Thomas Brooks

(British, 1818-1891)

The Return (Saved from the Wreck), 1859

oil on canvas

signed Brooks. and dated (lower left)

36 1/2 x 72 1/4 inches.

This lot is located in Chicago.

Provenance:

Estate of Glenn Boyer

Sold: J Levine Auction & Appraisal, Phoenix, Arizona, April 17, 2014, Lot 1088

Sherry Rampy, acquired at the above sale

Gifted to the present owner by the above, 2018

Exhibited:

London, Royal Academy of the Arts, Ninety-Fourth Exhibition, 1862, no. 541

This dramatic painting depicts the return of a National Lifeboat Institution (R.N.L.I) ten-man oared lifeboat and seven survivors, as it endeavors to the safety of a stone quay. The lucky survivors have been rescued from a sailing vessel driven aground on rocks in a perilous stormy sea, seen just to the left in the distance off the end of the headland. Anxious villagers gather to welcome home the brave volunteer lifeboat men. Still in existence today, the R.N.L.I is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Island, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Exhibited at the 1862 London Royal Academy of the Arts, the composition bears the original nautical themed-rope twist frame. The painting was later made into an engraving, along with a pendant work, titled The Departure (Launching the Life-Boat), by Frederick Hunter and published by Brook & Sons in 1871.

The Return (Saved from the Wreck), 1859

The Return (Saved from the Wreck), 1859