Jack Spurling
1870 - 1933
As a young man on the docks and later throughout his life at sea Spurling had sketched and painted scenes around him. He showed enormous talent and at one stage was receiving commissions from other seafarers for his work. Later in life he became well known in maritime circles for his covers of the magazine 'The Blue Peter: The Magazine of Sea Travel'. Readers responded to Spurling's accurate yet dramatic images of clipper ships at sea and were offered the chance to buy copies, further raising Spurling's popularity.
Spurling's experience on sailing ships gave his paintings an authenticity that was obvious to those with a love of the sea. In addition, it is said that the editor of the Blue Peter, Frederick Hook, offered a reward to anyone who could fault the rigging on one of Spurling’s paintings – the reward was never paid.
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