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Joseph Heard was born in Egremont, Cumberland in February 1799, the son of a saddler also named Joseph. As a young man it is believed that Joseph received some tuition from the local portrait painter John Clementson (circa 1780 1841). In such a small artistic community Heard would almost certainly have met his fellow Whitchaven artists Robert Salmon and Henry Collins. In the mid 1820's Heard moved briefly to London and in 1826 he exhibited a portrait at the Whitehaven exhibition. On his return to Whitehaven he decided to take up marine painting full time, leaving his brother Isaac to concentrate on human portraiture. By 1834 the Heard brothers had moved south to the expanding city of Liverpool where they shared a studio. Joseph became a successful marine artist in Liverpool, being second only to Samuel Walters in popularity, and received a steady flow of commissions from the local fraternity. He remained there for the rest of his life, and died in Upper Pitt Street on 10th November, 1859 at the age of 60. The Merseyside Maritime Museum has in its collection the largest number of paintings by Joseph Heard, fourteen, and his works are also represented in the collections of the leading maritime museums in the United States. |
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