Edward Seago was a painter of a wide variety of subjects, but especially landscapes in oils and watercolours, and also an illustrator. His work is characterised by spontaneity and a fluid facility of handling and his concern with light and atmosphere owes much to French 19th Century and English Romantic landscape.

 

The son of a Norwich coal merchant, Edward Seago received instruction from BERTRAM PRIESTMAN, and studied at the Royal Drawing Society. However, he was largely self-taught and at 18 he joined Bevin's Travelling Show and toured with the circus. Although he lived in Norfolk, he worked much in East Anglia and abroad, painting in Spain, Morocco, Italy, France, Greece and Antarctica.  His interest in the travelling life inspired several illustrated books in the 1930s.

 

His first one-man show was held at the Sporting Gallery in 1933. He worked with the poet John Masefield on several illustrational projects between 1937 and 1942. He served with the Royal Engineers, 1939-44, and often painted in Italy. He exhibited his war work in 1946, and work created during the Duke of Edinburgh's World Tour was shown in 1957. Amongst his many published writings are Caravan, 1937 and A Canvas to Cover, 1947. The work of Edward Seago, an artist considered by many critics and collectors to be amonst the greatest landscape painters of this century, continues to inspire interest and acclaim whenever it is mentioned.