Richard Firth

Born in Hull, Yorkshire in 1971, Richard had a natural talent for art at school but it was not until 1996 that he began painting. He started work at a butcher’s shop as a Saturday boy aged 13. But it was years later, when he delivered a consignment of meat to a marine artist in his studio, that he was inspired to have a go and take up his brushes once more.

Firth’s marine paintings inspired him to become a keen yachtsman, realizing that to paint accurate seascapes he would need to spend time on the high seas and learn all aspects of sailing. Firth’s first sailing experience was on the Humber and East Coast of England. He then went on to sailing on the Solent and competing in the Round the Island Yacht Race for several years. Richard entered the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 2012 after extensive training, crossing the 3390 miles of the South Atlantic Ocean from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town in 18 gruelling days on the winning clipper ‘Gold Coast’.

Richard is part of the great British Heritage of maritime artists, who sailed the high seas before becoming a master painter of it’s many facets. The influences from a long line of maritime masters stretching from Thomas Luny and John Wilson Carmichael, with their understanding of ships and the sea from first-hand experience.

Firth was asked to exhibit at the prestigious, Ferens Museum and Art Gallery, Hull, England in their Winter Exhibition of 1996. Since then, his marine paintings have become highly sought after by collectors of fine marine art.

At the present time, Richard Firth produces only eight to nine paintings a year, and is certainly the most promising newcomer to the marine art scene, with the real potential to overtake his two mentors, Dews and Renard.

His stunning seascapes are sold in some of the most prestigious galleries and auction houses across the world.