Background
Charles was born on September 9, 1873, in Pontefract, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom.
Pears studied at East Hardwick and Pomfret College, where he started a lifelong appreciation of Canaletto.
National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Charles Pears, National Portrait Gallery.
Charles Pears working on an oil painting of R.M.S. Orcades.
National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Charles Pears, portrait by Howard Coster in National Portrait Gallery.
Charles was born on September 9, 1873, in Pontefract, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom.
Charles Pears studied at East Hardwick and Pomfret College, where he started a lifelong appreciation of Canaletto.
Pears worked as an illustrator from 1890 till the end of his career. His early illustrated works were included in periodicals such as The Yellow Book, Punch, The Graphic and Salt-Water Poems and Ballads by John Masefield. His works were exhibited from 1904 to 1939 in London, and he also wrote a number of books on small boat cruising.
He was a commissioned officer in the Royal Marines during the First World War, worked as an official War Artist during both the First and Second World Wars. His Second World War poster entitled "MV San Demetrio gets home" was issued by the Post Office Savings Bank.
From 1913 to 1936, Pears was a prolific poster artist, working for London Underground. He moved to Saint Mawes, Cornwall in semi-retirement, and died in Truro on 28 January 1958.
Charles Pears is best known as a marine painter and illustrator, he often signed his work as Chas Pears. Namely, he created posters for the Empire Marketing Board, the Metropolitan Railway, Southern Railway, London, Midland & Scottish Railway and others.
Charles Pears also was the first elected President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. He is commemorated in a prize at the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Charles Pears Memorial Award.
"Gibraltar"
1930Ramsgate
1935Convoy to Russia
1944Sinking of the Scharnhorst
1943The Passenger Liner Queen Mary Arriving at Southampton 27 March 1936
1936The Tirpitz Attacked by Barracudas, 3 April 1944
1945The Evacuation from St Nazaire, 17th June 1940
1940A Drifting Mine
1918A Hospital Ship- Night
1918An Ml Recovering a Torpedo - "hms Yarmouth" at practice, January 1918
1918An Officer of an Ml about to board a Norwegian Steamer
1914At work on a Battleship at Rosyth - testing cables, at night by the light of a flare lamp
1918HMS Courageous in Dry Dock, at Rosyth. Winter.
1919HMS Dunraven, Vc, in Action against the Submarine that Sank Her, 8th August 1917
1917Pay Night, Rosyth- Winter
1918River Plate Pageant
1918Steam Pinnaces at Hawkes Pier
1918The surrender of German submarine U-111 on the 4 October 1941.
1941The British Submarine K22 in Dry Dock at Rosyth- Winter
1918The Gate Ship at Granton- Painted scarlet to indicate the port entrance through one of the barriers across the Firth of forth
1918The Times history of the war
1917The Times history of the war
1914The Wake. HMS Courageous at Top Speed
1918Women Putting Anti-fouling Paint on the Bottom of an Ml Leith
1917The German Fleet at Anchor off Inchkeith, Firth of Forth - after the Surrender, 22nd November 1918
1919The Lights of Rosyth From the Forth Bridge Footpath. Port Edgar and the Fleet.
1914The North Sea. the Night of 10th August 1918
1918The Action of 11th August 1918, Island of Borkum.
1918Streaming the Pvs - Paravanes enable a ship to go through mines in almost complete safety
1919HMS Furious: Aerodrome Ship.
1919German Star Shells - men at the guns off the German coast, 11th August 1918
1918