Description
A great example of John Stillman’s work. An unframed oil on board of horses in a snow covered field with woodlands away in the background. It is signed to the bottom right hand corner “John Stillman ’96” There are three horses in this snowy meadow, a grey and two chestnut, munching away at the patches of grass to be found between the clumps of snow. This painting is unframed and measures 61 x 41 cm (24″ x 16″). It has correspondence on the reverse of the painting between a previous owner and the artist confirming that this is indeed one of his original works of art.
John Stillman RSMA was born in Carshalton in 1968. He is completely self taught and spent many years as a book illustrator and graphic designer before becoming a full time artist in 2006. He became successful enough to be elected as a member of a number of important artist’s groups such as The Wapping Group of Artists and The Chelsea Arts Society. In 2014 he was elected as an Associate member of The Royal Society of Marine Artists, with full membership being granted in 2017! He has also exhibited numerous times at The Royal Academy and The Mall Galleries in London. For two years in a row in 2009 and 2010 his paintings won the prestigious “The Frank Herring Easel Award” at The Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
The following is an excerpt from a newspaper article on this painting….
“The Wapping Group of Artists….John Stillman.
The Wapping Group of Artists had its origins in 1939 but the second World War got in the way of the group getting off the ground. Following the cessation of hostilities, the artists got together again and the group was set up officially in 1946. Originally a group of London based artists set it up as a self-help group, who would get together and paint scenes up and down The Thames in London, always al fresco.
Over the years the group has become one of the most prestigious groups of artists to be a member of and with its maximum limit of 25 members it is a difficult group to break into and when elected it is a real honour to be a member of this highly respected group. Many past and current members have gone on to be elected to more readily recognised societies including The Royal Society of British Artists, The Royal Institute of Painters in Oil, The Royal Society of Marine Artists, The Royal Watercolour Society, etc., etc. Former members include the likes of Rowland Hilder, Hugh Boycott Brown, Sidney Cardew, Josiah Sturgeon, Edward Wesson and so many more.
One of its current members, John Stillman was recently elected as a full member of The Royal Society of Marine Artists. John was born in Carshalton, Surrey in 1968 and following successful careers in the worlds of book illustration and advertising as a graphic designer, John went out on his own in 2006 as a full-time artist. By 2009 he was elected to The Wapping Group and last year, in October 2017 he was elected as full member of the RSMA. He also sits on the council of the Chelsea Art Society and the Croydon Art Society.
The painting we are looking at today is an unframed oil on board of one of his earlier Surrey countryside scenes featuring a snow-covered paddock with a number of horses munching away at the green fronds of grass that are managing to poke through the snow. It is a very peaceful and beautiful scene and comes with a hard copy of an email directly from the artist confirming it as a genuine piece and a true example of his work. The painting is signed to the bottom right hand corner and is dated 1996…so before he turned professional….a real collectors piece!”
