George Garth Fryer was an accomplished British painter of coastal scenes, maritime subjects and landscapes.

Illuminated by the radiant glow of an early sun, the sea shimmers with a calm serenity. Moored boats are readied for the day ahead, while a family works in the foreground. Distant sails are visible like flickering candles through the golden haze of morning. Two thatched cottages stand beyond.

Fryer preferred nature as its most alluring, when the light, either at sunrise or sunset, creates an evocative mood. His coastal vistas, such as this one from 1877, capture the imagination and transport us into an idealised vision of seafaring life. Searching for the picturesque, he painted views across Europe, from rugged North Wales to the sun-drenched lakes of Italy and from the Rhine Valley to the Bosphorus. Each portrayed in his typically romanticised style.

He lived, for the majority of his life, in London.

Public Collections

Leeds Art Gallery.

Timeline

C. 1832

Born in Preston, Lancashire, to Samuel Garth Fryer and Mary Anne Fryer.

1870

Married Ellen Louisa Lock in Stepney, London.

1871

Lived in St George Bloomsbury, London, with his wife, son and sister-in-law. Occupation listed as ‘Landscape Painter’.

1881

Lived in Marylebone, London, with his wife, daughter, and servant. Occupation listed as ‘Artist. Landscape Painter’.

1901

Lived in Marylebone, London, with his wife. Occupation listed as ‘Artist’.

1911

Lived in St Pancras, London, with his wife. Occupation listed as ‘Artist. Painter’.

C. 1912

Died in London.