John Wilson Carmichael (1800 - 1868) may also have been known as James Wilson Carmichael. He was an English marine artist and he later worked in America painting the Niagara Falls area.

Credits:

Groce, G. & Wallace, D. (1957) The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of
Artists in America, 1564-1860.

John Wilson Carmichael was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the son of a ship's carpenter. As a youth he apprenticed to a shipbuilder, drawing and designing. He is known to have spent time at sea including voyages aboard adventure and beagle with Charles Darwin.

He began painting in watercolors and his first oils appeared around 1825. His inspiration was usually found along the North Umbrian coast. Carmichael exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1835 to 1859 and at the British Institute from 1846 through 1852. He was noted for his ability to portray light in his paintings adding exceptional luminosity to his fine composition skills.

Throughout his career Carmichael demonstrated considerable powers as an artist. His work shows an intimate knowledge of ships and he was an expert at placing them in the water so that they seemed buoyant and responsive to the movement of wind and wave. Carmichael belongs to the circle of Clarkson Stanfield and Edward Cooke. He focused on subjects he knew and enjoyed, usually admiralty frigates or ships-of-the-line in a strong breeze off a coast or entering a harbor.

English marine and landscape painter. C. began as a draftsman in a shipyard. Since 1835 he exhibited repeatedly at the Royal Academy, the Society of British Art and the British Institution. Mus .: London (V&A), Nnewcastle. Lit .: Thieme-Becker.

John Wilson Carmichael, also known as James Wilson Carmichael, was a successful maritime artist from Newcastle. He started his career as an apprentice to a shipbuilding firm and later set up a painting studio in Blackett Street at the age of 23. Carmichael exhibited 21 works at the Royal Academy between 1835 and 1859. He was prolific in his artwork and collaborated with landscape painter Thomas Miles Richardson.