20th Century British Seascape Oil Painting Schooner Sailing Ship Kathleen & May by John L Chapman

1 Traditional British Seascape Marine Art Oil Painting Schooner Sailing Ship Kathleen & May.
Make a big statement with this fine maritime work of art for your home or corporate office.
Oil on canvas set in a fine decorative gilt frame.
A good proportion sized with the frame being 89 cm wide and 63.5cm high.
Title verso “Kathleen & May Schooner” by John L Chapman.
Circa late 20th century 1970’s.
Name of ship is shown on the bow of the ship which reads Kathleen & May.
Subject seascape marine view of the known schooner masted ship Kathleen & May in full sail which is sailing in side profile facing left on the high seas, relative choppy waters. You can see the rigging and sailor figures on deck, a lifeboat and towards the stern is the Captain at the wheel steering the ship, a red ensign flag is hoisted flying high on the top main mast, in the distance over to the right a steam masted sail ship can be seen, above with overcast cloudy storm sky with areas of blue shining through.
Signed in the bottom corner by the artist J L Chapman.
In our opinion this is one of his finest and early marine painting works.
Artist biography John L.Chapman is a British Postwar & Contemporary artist born 1946 in Blackburn Lancashire England is a painter of urban landscapes, townscapes, transport, rural and maritime scenes amongst other subjects. He has painted mainly in acrylics, but he is equally proficient with oils, watercolours and gouache. Maritime paintings have been a major part of his work, his favourite areas for sea subjects is around the Yorkshire coast around Whitby.
Many of Chapman’s paintings have been reproduced as limited edition prints and he has also completed several commissions for Josiah Wedgwood and Sons. In 2003, a book John Chapman’s Lancashire was published by Halsgrove. Chapman attended Bangor Street School in Blackburn, where his art teacher, Peter Shackleton, recognised his talent and arranged for him to take art classes at Blackburn College of Art on Saturday mornings. During his time at school, Chapman developed an interest in trains and the railway art of Terence Cuneo and others.
After leaving school in 1961, Chapman was employed as a layout artist and later as a technical illustrator working on his own paintings in the evenings and at weekends. In 1968 Chapman became an independent, professional artist making his first sales of railway paintings and receiving commissions for specific subjects in oils. Major exhibitions soon followed at W. H. Patterson’s gallery in Mayfair and at public galleries in his native Lancashire. In 1984, one of John’s paintings was exhibited in the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. His works have sold at auctions around the world the current highest sold price was for $158,926 US dollars which was for Birdcage Walk London that sold at Christie’s.
Ship biography Kathleen and May is the last remaining British built wooden hull three masted top sail schooner. Registered in Bideford, North Devon, but presently based in Gloucester, she is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet. She was built in 1900 by Ferguson and Baird at their Connah’s Quay, Flintshire yard, for local shipping company Coppack Bros. Constructed with a doubled frame of oak, these were covered by 3 inches (76 mm) thick seasoned pitch pine planks, fastened to the frames with treenails and iron bolts.
Equipped with the first known fitting of Appledore roller, reefing the sails are reefed by a ratchet lever that engaged the cogs on the Gaff boom, thereby winding the sail around it, and then locked to prevent the sail unwinding from the boom. Launched in April 1900 under Captain John Coppack, she was named Lizzie May after the Captain’s daughters. Placed to work on the Irish Sea, by 1908 she had sailed nearly 40,000 miles (64,000 km), when she was sold into the coal -shipping fleet of Martin J Fleming of Youghal, Ireland, and renamed the Kathleen and May after his daughters. Fleming modified her, adding before World War 1 both a longer lower yard to lengthen the middle sail, and a martingal fitted to the bowsprit.
She now plied her trade between Youghal and the ports of the Bristol Channel, as a coal lugger. In 1931 she was sold to Captain Jewell of Appledore, North Devon. On arrival in her new home port, she was fitted with an 80 brake horsepower (60 kW) Beardmore diesel engine, and with her topsails removed her topmasts were reduced in height. After surviving the storms of February 1936, in 1937 she experienced engine trouble in sight of Youghal’s lighthouse, but managed to make port. In 1943, her engine was upgraded to a 125 brake horsepower (93 kW) Deutz diesel. After the death of Captain Jewell in 1945, she passed to his son Tommy.
In 1947 he had the martingale removed, but continued to ply her on the Irish Sea coal trade, which was now in severe decline. Based in Bideford on the River Torridge, since her restoration Kathleen & May now regularly sails across the Bristol Channel and the Irish Sea. She has returned to Youghal, attended various festivals, and sailed across the Bay of Biscay to Bilbao as the paid guest of the Guggenheim museum. Since 2010 Kathleen & May is berthed in Albert Dock beside Merseyside Maritime Museum. In June 2021, the ‘Kathleen & May’ returned to Gloucester Docks for a repair to her bowsprit together with a repair to her hull at the world renowned T.Nielsen & Co in Gloucester Docks. The Kathleen & May attended the Gloucester Tall Ships Festival in 2022, thereafter work began upon the repair. As of January 2023, she is currently in the Dry Dock and soon to be moved to the waters in Gloucester Docks as she undergoes further maintenance by a small, but willing team of volunteers.
References History Kathleen & May. Retrieved 11 April 2011. “Meeting at Bideford, Saturday 24th February 2001”. swmaritime.org.uk. 24 February 2001. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011. Stephen Whittle, John Chapman’s Lancashire, Halsgrove (2003) pages 11–20 (ISBN 1 84114 292 1)
Provenance signed artist original sketch drawing proof verso label verso along with related accompanying ephemera, the story of the Kathleen & May, colourplan series drawn by C.V Waine, ships monthly magazine feb 1979 page 19 featured story of the ship, ships monthly 1967 October edition magazine, the Maritime Trust & now in the collection of Cheshire Antiques Consultant.
Highly sought after by CEO’s, interior designers, home decorators, museums, art galleries, antique dealers, private marine nautical collectors, film tv theatre studio prop shops.
Incredible conversation piece for your guests.
We only select & sell paintings based upon subject, quality & significance.
We provide our clients with friendly professional expert customer service.
Hanging thread on the back ready for immediate home wall display.
Browse our other exciting Fine Arts, antiques & collectibles available in our shop gallery.

Dimensions in centimetres of the frame

High (63.5 cm)
Wide (89 cm)
Depth (4 cm)