Sims, Charles (1873-1928) - 1904c. By Summer Seas (Museum of New Zealand, Wellington)
Oil on canvas; 70.0 x 90.0 cm.
Sims painted portraits, landscapes, and decorative paintings. He was one of a group of artists who continued to treat symbolic and romantic themes after the First World War. He received his art education in London at Royal Academy Schools, and in Paris in the ateliers of Julian and Baschet. His continental training probably accounts for his fluent handling of paint, and his confident treatment of space and atmosphere. These qualities rapidly gained him critical and academic success. He held a highly successful one man show at the Leicester Gallery in 1906. Academic honors followed. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1908, Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1911, Member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1914 and Royal Academician in 1915. He became keeper of the Royal Academy Schools in 1920. The First World War proved to be a traumatic experience for Sims, from which he never recovered. His eldest son was killed and he was unbalanced by what he witnessed in France where he was sent as a war artist in 1918. His subsequent paintings often show signs of the mental disturbance which led him to resign his post at the Royal Academy Schools in 1926. In 1928, Sims committed suicide.
Sims, Charles (1873-1928) - 1904c. By Summer Seas (Museum of New Zealand, Wellington)
Oil on canvas; 70.0 x 90.0 cm.
Sims painted portraits, landscapes, and decorative paintings. He was one of a group of artists who continued to treat symbolic and romantic themes after the First World War. He received his art education in London at Royal Academy Schools, and in Paris in the ateliers of Julian and Baschet. His continental training probably accounts for his fluent handling of paint, and his confident treatment of space and atmosphere. These qualities rapidly gained him critical and academic success. He held a highly successful one man show at the Leicester Gallery in 1906. Academic honors followed. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1908, Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1911, Member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1914 and Royal Academician in 1915. He became keeper of the Royal Academy Schools in 1920. The First World War proved to be a traumatic experience for Sims, from which he never recovered. His eldest son was killed and he was unbalanced by what he witnessed in France where he was sent as a war artist in 1918. His subsequent paintings often show signs of the mental disturbance which led him to resign his post at the Royal Academy Schools in 1926. In 1928, Sims committed suicide.