Artwork
Brass 24-pounder gun
Brass 24-pounder gun is a watercolor work on paper by the Impressionist artist Montagu Frederick O'Reilly. It dates from 1853 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This watercolour painting depicts a brass 24-pounder naval gun.
About this work
Overview
This watercolour painting depicts a brass 24-pounder naval gun. Created by Commander Montagu Frederick O'Reilly, it showcases the artist's attention to detail and realistic style.
Subject & Meaning
The gun is shown lying on the ground, likely having been salvaged from the Turkish flagship Naganiah after its destruction at the Battle of Sinope in 1853. The surrounding landscape features a body of water and distant mountains.
Technique & Style
The watercolour medium lends a soft quality to the painting, while maintaining a realistic representation of the gun and its environment. The artist's use of this technique effectively captures the scene.
History & Provenance
O'Reilly created the painting while stationed on HMS Retribution in Sinope Bay in December 1853. It was later included in his 1856 publication 'A Series of Twelve Views in the Black Sea and the Bosphorus' and was sold at Phillips in September 1981.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
This lieutenant in a British artillery regiment spent his free hours with a paintbox instead of a deck of cards.
![Position [of] Russian Fleet Sebastopol. Friday 22nd. September 1854 7.30. AM, by Montagu Frederick O'Reilly](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/montagu-frederick-o-reilly--position-of-russian-fleet-sebastopol-friday-22nd-september-1--77b067cc0b9c162f-w320.webp)
`Town of Severus & ruins of Trajan's Bridge - Wallachia'
Άποψη των Δαρδανελίων
Le Havre
`Cataracts of Assouan. Midway. - Our Candjia Moored for the Night - On the Nile'
Entrance to the Bosphorus from the Black Sea
First sight of Jerusalem from the Jaffa & El Arish road
Bay of Aden
Tehran with the Cusr Kayar
Coast scene with a capstan, probably near Brighton
View from the shore over the Thames or the Medway- Cannon by a Bulwark