Richard Henry Nibbs (1816–1893) was an English painter and book illustrator who specialised in marine art.

Nibbs was born in Brighton, Sussex (now East Sussex), England and educated at a school in Worthing (run by the father of watercolourist Henry Tidey). He lived in Brighton throughout his life.[1] Nibbs initially trained as a musician and became a professional cellist with the Theatre Royal orchestra. However, a lifelong love of art combined with a natural talent for detailed observation led him to become a self-taught painter - in both oils and watercolour - particularly of marine subjects. In 1840 a substantial inheritance allowed him to devote himself full-time to art.

His marine art depicts scenes mainly off the coast of his native Sussex, France and Holland - though he also drew buildings and landscapes. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists.[2][3][4]

Selected works

edit
 
Church of the Transfiguration, Pyecombe, Sussex, by R. H Nibbs

Paintings:

  • Low Water: Newhaven Harbour, Sussex .
  • HMS Vengeance at Spithead (1851).
  • Queen Victoria landing at the Chain Pier, Brighton (1843).
  • Brighton promenade, 1850.
  • Shipping on the Thames.
  • Shoreham.
  • Philadelphia Harbour.

Illustrated books:

  • Lower, Mark Anthony. The Churches of Sussex: With Historical and Archaeological Descriptions (1872)
  • Nibbs, R. H. Antiquities of Sussex (1872)

References

edit
  1. ^ Residing at 8 Howard Place, then 7 Buckingham Place from 1873 (according to the "Encyclopaedia of Brighton" by Tim Carder - 1990).
  2. ^ Nibbs, Richard Henry. "Exhibits at the Royal Academy 1841–1888". Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  3. ^ Nibbs, Richard Henry. "Exhibits at the British Institution 1841–1867". Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. ^ Johnson, Jane (1975). Works exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists, 1824-1893 and the New English Art Club, 1888-1917. Woodbridge: Antique Collector's Club. pp. 340–341.
edit