John M. Horton, OBC, CSMA
Born in England, at 16 he joined the Royal Naval Reserve and at the same time apprenticed as a designer and architectural artist before eventually immigrating to Vancouver Canada in 1966. He started his own rendering practice, becoming very successful producing renderings for architects in Vancouver. He also started to paint marine scenes again and the gallery, who represented him, was very successful selling his work, eventually allowing him to focus solely on marine art.
Over the years his paintings have been exhibited by the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of Marine Artists in the UK.
He has produced more than 1,500 marine paintings, all of which are meticulously researched, richly detailed and technically accurate. He has devoted 50 years on the Fraser River in volunteer search and rescue and through this time developed an amazing eye for the skies, water, clouds and the mood of his paintings. He is a Canadian Naval War Artist and has produced many special paintings including three for the RCN’s 100th Anniversary. Paintings for the Canadian Coast Guard, the fishing and tug boat industries and Shipping Agents are also a big part of his portfolio.
He is a member of the Order of British Columbia, the highest honour the province can bestow and the Canadian Society of Marine Artists, and the Master Mariners of Canada.
John served as the founding president of the Canadian Society of Marine Artists.
Enjoy John Horton's spectacular work in these two slide shows, and many of these can be seen in the galleries at The Victory.
Part one – in the gallery
Part two – pleasure and workboats
Below are some more of his paintings that have previously been exhibited at The Victory, and which may still be available.
