‘War at sea’ painting feared lost in bombing surfaces at auction house

The picture, depicting a British merchantman’s remarkable escape from a larger and faster German cruiser in 1914 off the South American coast, was painted by the artist in 1916, shortly after his return to the city of his birth.

Although barely known in Hull where he died in 1927 after spending nearly half a century in Valparaiso, Chile, Somerscales is now regarded as the South American country’s national artist.

Whenever his paintings come up for sale at major auctions, they are often snapped up by wealthy Chilean collectors.

The former curator of Hull’s Maritime Museum, Arthur Credland, said: “Somerscales was born and raised in Hull, but he is regarded as Chile’s national artist. He first made his reputation, both in landscape and marine subjects in Chile where he lived and worked as a school teacher for many years.

“Returning to England with his family, he made an impact at the Royal Academy and has had a following in Britain ever since. But many works appearing in the sale rooms are still snapped up by South American buyers.”

Hull owns two paintings by Somerscales – The Lame Duck is in the Ferens while another, SS Immingham, is in the Maritime Museum.

The painting coming up for sale at Bonhams in New York next Wednesday is titled The SS Ortega entering the Straits Of Nelson with the SMS Dresden in pursuit. It is expected to fetch between £8,000 and £12,000.

It tells how the SS Ortega outmanoeuvred the German cruiser in shallow, uncharted seas, eventually working its way through nearly 100 miles of narrow and tortuous channels and emerging into the Straits of Magellan.

For his seamanship, Capt Douglas Kinnier was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by King George V, as well as an honorary lieutenancy in the Royal Naval Reserve.

The painting used to belong to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, but when their Liverpool offices were wrecked in the Blitz during the Second World War, it was thought that the picture had also been destroyed.

Bonhams maritime consultant, Gregg Dietrich, said: “In a sense, the subject of the painting is a metaphor for the work itself, which has also managed to survive against all the odds.”