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Kenneth Denton Shoesmith British, 1890-1939 Born in Halifax, he was brought up in Blackpool and in 1906 went as a cadet to the Conway training ship. She was then moored in the Mersey and Shoesmith spent most of his spare time drawing the passing ships. He was largely self-taught but did subscribe to a correspondence course called “Revival of Youthful Art League”. In 1909 he joined the Royal Mail Company as a junior officer, and continued in the merchant marine until the end of the First World War, by which time he found his duties as a chief officer allowed him too little time to paint. He became a professional painter living in London and specializing in poster designs, mainly for shipping firms, and especially for the Royal Mail. He had his first one-man show in Belfast in 1921, and exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon. In 1925 he was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, and he was also a member of the British Society of Poster Designers. The highlight of his career was perhaps his being chosen in 1935 as one of the artists to paint murals in the great new Cunarder, Queen Mary. His work was strongly influenced by that of Frank Brangwyn. He died in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, on April 6th, 1939. In 1947 his widow, Mrs. Sarah Shoesmith, bequeathed such paintings, drawings and posters as he has kept to the Ulster Museum in Belfast. |
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