Do you know about the painter Baillie?

Question

We have an oil painting of a sailing ship at sea with its sails open and choppy water. It is very well done, but we have no idea about the artist except that in the corner it says Baillie. Do you have any information that would help me?

Answer 1

Hi! I found a well-known lithographer named Baillie, a marine painter named Bille and a portrait painter/etcher named Baillie. There are examples of all of their styles below which perhaps may help you in identifying your artist. You might want to submit a photo or call a reputable fine art appraiser for more information. I hope that this helps!

Lithograph by J. Baillie (Lithographer, active at New York during the mid-19th Century, New York competitors to Currier & Ives.) J. Baillie and Company, New York, and J. Sowle, New Bedford, Massachusetts.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h63000/h63630c.htm
Carl Ludwig Bille
http://www.gbtate.com/paintings/Bille.jpg
http://www.fineartemporium.com/se-Bille-Marine.htm
William Baillie - portrait artist
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?desc=&grp=&lDate=&eDate=&occ=8%3BArt+and+Architecture&medium=drawing&name=&search=as&LinkID=mp61867
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?desc=&grp=&lDate=&LinkID=mp61867&eDate=&occ=8%3BArt+and+Architecture&medium=drawing&name=&search=as&role=art

Answer 2

Hi Maureen,


As I am sure you already realize, your artist, simply known as "Bailiie" is none of the "Baillies" currently located on the internet. About all that is known of this particular artist is that he was English, with his work almost exclusively limited to the mid-20th Century (1950s- early 70s), producing fine-to-very-fine oils. Although there are nice landscapes to be found, it is his expansive maritime canvases for which he has become best known. In fact, his maritime paintings are of such a recognizable style that, even without seeing it, I could probably describe your own painting to you, and probably get awfully close to being exactly right. (Massive ship, tilting in the wind, deep blue, iridescent, white-capped water, with a dull, grey-blue sky; the ship is usually large, 3-masted, with a brown wood that has a stripe of white following it around. Its white sails will, inevitably, be billowing, with the artist's name painted in the exact same white color, and done with such a flourish that makes it seem as if it, too, is being blown by the very wind pushing the sails... Sound about right?) Another thing to his credit is that Baillie almost always used high quality frames, something a modern buyer can appreciate very much. Depending on size, a Baillie painting can be expected to bring at auction (on a site like eBay) anywhere from $100 for a small painting to $250- $400 for the more massive canvases he is known to have produced. Oddly enough, while he is becoming better known in the United States, he is not too well known his homeland as of yet.

Hope this helps in some small way!

Answer 3

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I'd've preferred Bill Bailey! Edit: Is Wussell going into the bush as well, oh sorry he already has!