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CAPTAIN RICHARD BRYDGES BEECHEY RHA (1808-1895)Sailing Ships in a StormOil on canvas, 23 x 35¼SignedBorn in 1808 in London, Richard Brydges Beechey, the son of Sir William Beechey RA, entered the Navy in 1822, retired as a Captain in 1864 and became a Vice-Admiral in 1879. Throughout his naval career he painted many accomplished marine works and exhibited numerous paintings at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and at the Society of British Artists.Strickland notes that Beechey was employed on the survey work at the mouth of the Shannon and the west coast of Ireland, during which time he sent works to the Royal Hibernian Academy, becoming an honorary member in 1868. After his retirement from the Navy in 1864 he settled in Ireland, living for many years at Monkstown, and later in Pembroke Road, Dublin. While landscapes are not unknown, it is for his marine work that Beechey is best remembered. His many years as a sailor and his understanding of the vagaries of the sea underpins all his work and is evident in the present work which depicts sailing boats beating towards the coast in rough seas.