Besides being an illustrator and sculptor, Macklin was a painter in oils and watercolours, and he produced landscapes, figurative pictures and portraits. where he would sometimes exhibit his work. During the 19th century, Macklin's painting style was
Romantic, but one observer had other ideas about it: "His charlady noticed a skyscape hanging in his studio. 'I don't think much of that', she observed severely, 'it's too like them Turner things. In 1922, the
Daily Mirror selected Macklin and two other artists to judge its beauty competition's junior section for children. In 1903, the
Newcastle Daily Chronicle gave the public a view of the inside of the Blackett Street studio:
Exhibitions Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Macklin exhibited 17 works at the
Royal Academy (RA) from 1889 when he submitted a portrait of a Lady titled
From the Sunny South. In 1900 he contributed
Perros, Brittany, "a scene in Britanny, an effective piece of painting". His portrait of
Blanche was accepted for the
Summer Exhibition in 1891, and his painting of
An English Girl was "hung on the line" there in 1892. In 1893 his portrait of his future wife,
Miss Alys Philpott, was accepted for the Summer Exhibition. The
Newcastle Chronicle said, "Every one who has seen Mr Macklin's work will probably conclude that it is a just tribute to his ability and perseverance. Probably the subject has inspired the artist. A portrait of a lady of considerable personal attractions certainly affords a painter a good opportunity to display his power. And it can safely be said that Mr Macklin has risen to the occasion".
Ripe was a "skilful treatment of an orchard scene with a young woman wheeling a barrow". Macklin sold its copyright for reproduction in
photogravure. In 1899 it was mistakenly reported that Macklin had two portraits and two landscapes hung at the RA:
Helen ("there is some vivacity in his
Helen"),
Mrs W.H. Dircks,
A Bend of the Tees ("a simple but satisfying landscape study"), and
Streatley Mill on the Thames ("a water-colour drawing with an excellent moonlit sky"). There are two versions of what happened to the four pictures. The first, testified in the Academy's catalogue, says that Macklin had three hung that year (not including
Mrs Dircks), and his wife Alys had one picture on the line:
Priez Pour Eux. The second version, according to the
Newcastle Daily Chronicle, says that there were three oil paintings and one watercolour:
Streatley Mill ("managed with telling effect"),
A Bend of the Tees ("not so successful" and looking "unfinished"), and portraits of a young woman in blue and a child with a bunch of flowers, both titled
Helen. "Mrs A.E. Macklin, the artist's wife, is included among the addresses in the catalogue as an exhibitor, though she is not represented by any work, the explanation being that although a painting from her was accepted ... it could not be found". In 1902, Macklin contributed a landscape painting of
Lincoln to the Summer Exhibition.
Other exhibitions In February 1882, Macklin exhibited an unknown work at the
Scottish Academy. In 1892, Macklin's submission to Newcastle Art Gallery drew attention: "All that need be said with regard to Thomas Eyre Macklin's little landscape,
The Heart of England – a cottage with trees and reedy pool – is that it is an exquisite gem". He also exhibited at the
Paris Salon, the
Royal Society of British Artists and the
Walker Art Gallery,
Liverpool. However the
Newcastle Courant saw it and declared it "too hot and purple in colour, and lacking in directness". Nevertheless that paper did approve his other work in the exhibition, a study in chalk titled
Grey Eyes, which it described as "a very fine piece of work indeed". In 1895 the members exhibited there again (Macklin contributed
Jeannie-Yvonne), and the ''Newcastle Chronicle's'' art critic, under the pen name of Merlin, said that they had "produced work that does honour to Tyneside and to the Bewick Club", and that Macklin's contribution was a portrait "in which he exhibit[ed] all his usual refinement of style and decided draughtsmanship. The face is very sweet". In 1903, Macklin exhibited "powerful portraits" at the Academy of Arts, Beckett Street, Newcastle. In 1905 he contributed work to the Jarrow Art Exhibition, in the Engineers' Drill Hall, Western Road,
Jarrow. In 1908 Macklin exhibited his "dignified and fine" portrait of Edmund J. Browell, JP, alongside his black and white drawings, at the Laing Gallery, Newcastle.
Illustrations From 1888 until at least 1902, Macklin had illustrations published in various magazines including the
Pall Mall Gazette. In 1890, the
Newcastle Chronicle observed cryptically that, "for some time past Mr Thomas Eyre Macklin ... has contributed high class pen and ink and other drawings to an illustrated metropolitan contemporary". In 1893 Macklin produced "a variety of sketches" for
Historical Notes on Cullercoats, Whitley and Monkseaton by
William Weaver Tomlinson. The ''Newcastle Chronicle's'' critic "Robin Goodfellow" reported that "the gem of these illustrations is Mr Thomas Eyre Macklin's sketch of the
Whitley coast. Next come[s] the same artist's view of
Monkseaton village". In the same year,
Wetherell's The Wide, Wide World included "six splendid reproductions of black-and-white drawings by the local artist Mr Thomas Eyre Macklin. These illustrations are of unquestionable merit, and the value of them from the painter's point of view consists in the fact that every touch of the brush reappears with all its original force". Macklin produced the "very fine frontispiece in photogravure" for an 1893 edition of
Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter, and some illustrations for
The Newcastle Christmas Annual, 1893. In 1894, Macklin contributed illustrations for
Stowe's ''
Uncle Tom's Cabin'' for the Reward Series of children's books, and a frontispiece for
Cradle Songs and Nursery Rhymes from the Canterbury Poets series. In the same year, Macklin created frontispieces for
Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance, and
Our Old Home, besides illustrations for Emily Grace Harding's
A Noble Sacrifice. In August of that year was published
Denton Hall and its Association, a history of the building by William Weaver Tomlinson, which contained thirteen illustrations by Macklin. In 1895 he contributed a frontispiece in photogravure from a drawing, for
Elsie Venner: a romance of destiny by
Oliver Wendell Holmes. In 1896,
Alexandre Dumas'
The Three Musketeers was published "with twelve full-page illustrations drawn by Thomas Eyre Macklin". He also produced illustrations for the
Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legend. In 1914, British publisher George Pulman announced: "We have published a coloured plate entitled
The Angel of Peace by T. Eyre Macklin. It is a startling representation of the Kaiser's war methods". Dial House Cullercoates by Thomas Eyre Macklin (3).jpg|"Dial House, Cullercoates" for
Tomlinson's Cullercoats (1893) Illustration by Thomas Eyre Macklin for The Woman in White (2).jpg|Illustration for
Collins' The Woman in White, 1903 Illustration by Thomas Eyre Macklin for The Woman in White (3).jpg|Illustration for
Collins' The Woman in White, 1903 Illustration by Thomas Eyre Macklin for The Woman in White (7).jpg|Illustration for
Collins' The Woman in White, 1903 Captain Paul Jones on board the Serapis by Thomas Eyre Macklin.jpg|
Capt. Paul Jones from an original drawing taken from life, on board the Serapis, undated
Landscapes and figurative paintings While Macklin was in France, he was described by the
Newcastle Daily Chronicle as "an artist of considerable reputation". It was "favourably criticised in the French papers, reproduced in two illustrated magazines, and [in 1895 it was] sold for an American gallery". The above newspaper and the
Newcastle Chronicle reported in 1895 and 1896: Since [Macklin] and his talented wife took up their residence in Brittany, Mr Macklin has been working hard. He has painted many fine pictures there, but his great production – a canvas square – has not been sent to the Royal Academy, as perhaps might have been expected, he being one of the most promising of its young men, but to the
Paris Salon, where it occupies a capital position. The title of the work is
The Premier Ne (sic) and shows a young mother smiling at the baby she holds in her arms as she walks homewards through a wheat field with her young husband, who, laden with
scythe and
rake, is pausing to light his pipe. The picture appears amongst the other great works of the year in the illustrated catalogue, and Goupil, the great Parisian art publisher, is reproducing it in
gravure and colours. From all this we may infer that Mr. Macklin has now fully realised the anticipation of his many admirers. In 1922 Macklin went on a sketching tour of Italy. In 1936, Macklin's
The City Hall Floodlighted, 1935, was presented by the
Belfast Telegraph to Belfast Libraries, Museums and Art Committee. Treguier Brittany by Thomas Eyre Macklin.jpg|
Treguier, Brittany, 1896 North east coast landscape by Thomas Eyre Macklin.jpg|
North East Coast Landscape, 1900 Whittle Mill by Thomas Eyre Macklin.jpg|
Whittle Mill, 1904
Portrait paintings The subjects of most of Macklin's portraits now in public collections are male civic personages, but he was also "well known for child portraits". His 19th-century portraits were in the traditional style. The
Newcastle Daily Chronicle said: Macklin painted portraits of his home town's magistrates, which were originally for the Central Courts in Pilgrim street, but at the time of his death were hanging in
Newcastle Town Hall and
Newcastle Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1899 he completed a portrait of Sir
Charles Hamond, of which the
Newcastle Daily Chronicle said, "The likeness is perfect, both as to pose and expression". In 1900 Macklin produced a presentation portrait of the mayor of Newcastle and chief magistrate Riley Lord. That portrait was donated to Newcastle Corporation in 1924, to be hung in the committee room. Also in 1900, Macklin executed a portrait of Alderman R.H. Holmes, funded by Newcastle Conservative Club. In 1901, Alderman Richardson's likeness was painted by Macklin, and that was hung in the magistrates' room at the City Police Court in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. In 1908, a portrait in oils and "splendidly executed work" by Macklin of C.T. Maling, master of the Haydon foxhounds, was presented to Maling on his retirement by his friends. In the same year, he painted a presentation portrait for Edmund John Jasper Browell (1828–1914), who had given 50 years of unpaid civic service to County Durham. In 1909 Macklin produced another presentation portrait; this time of the former mayor of Newcastle, W.J. Sanderson. "The portrait [was] a very large one, and at once striking and very lifelike". "The ex-Lord Mayor is depicted seated, wearing his robes of office above court dress, and the background is the lobby of the Laing Art Gallery. On a table are the accessories to municipal dignity – the mace of gold, the conical hat its bearer wears, and other accompaniments". In January 1918, a
Daily Mirror journalist wrote: "The rage for photography among stage folk has not entirely killed the work of the portrait painter. Mr T. Eyre Macklin tells me that he was so impressed with the appearance of Miss Muriel Dole in a small part at
His Majesty's that he determined to paint her picture". In 1921, Macklin painted a life-sized portrait of W.R. McMurray, JP, who for 50 years was the managing director of John Shaw Brown & Sons, Belfast. In 1927, Macklin produced a life-sized portrait of
Portadown councillor W.J. Johnston, JP, to be hung in the town hall. In 1928, Macklin painted a presentation portrait of his friend Sir Robert Baird, who was the royal arch officer of the District Grand Chapter of Antrim. In 1929, Macklin painted a portrait of the Grand Master of the Masonic Province of
County Antrim, James H. Stirling (d.1928). The portrait was to be hung in the Masonic Hall, Arthur Square, Belfast. "Macklin had accomplished successfully a singularly difficult task, for he had only seen Br. Stirling once, and he had to paint the portrait from photographs taken from time to time". In
Bangor, County Down, he painted portraits of the mayor and the town clerk, Thomas S. Wilson and James Milliken. The Baird and Bel-Burrowes portraits were officially presented in 1933. In the same year he painted a posthumous portrait of Rev. Henry Biddall Swanzy,
Dean of Dromore, for the Masonic Hall,
Newry. At an unknown date, Macklin painted "the group of
Lord Carson signing the
Ulster Covenant at the
Belfast City Hall". He and Charles Septimus Errington (1869–1935) were first asked to submit plans for the monument in 1904, and in 1905 it was announced that Macklin had won the competition to execute the work. Macklin's wife Alys was the model for two of the figures on the top and at the base of the monument:
Peace and
Victory. memorialising "373 officers and men of Northumbrian regiments who fell in the South African War". It was unveiled by Lieutenant-general Sir
Laurence Oliphant on 22 June 1908, in front of a crowd of about 30,000. Afterwards, the chairman of the Executive Committee, Sir Henry Scott, spoke of "the success of [Macklin's] efforts and the artistic beauty of the result". By 2016, it had become known as the "Dirty Angel" or the "Mucky Angel", and Newcastle City Council had granted planning permission to repair and refurbish the memorial.
Bust of Alderman Sir Charles Frederick Hamond, Newcastle, 1905 Macklin created a bust of Sir Charles Frederick Hamond for
Leazes Park, Newcastle, in 1905. As of 2018 the bust was still there.
Land Wars Memorial, Auckland, New Zealand, 1920 Macklin's second "chief work" was the Land Wars Memorial at
Auckland,
New Zealand.
Bangor War Memorial, County Down, 1927 Macklin's third "chief work" was the Bangor Memorial,
County Down, a listed building, The site, materials, and Macklin as designer, were chosen on 27 April 1925. Macklin was present when the Bangor war memorial was unveiled on Empire Day, 24 May 1927, by the
Duke of Abercorn, in the presence of the
Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, a crowd "of several thousands", and much attendant ceremony. The
Herald and County Down Independent gave the following description: The memorial is outstandingly artistic. Its proportions are well-balanced and it is altogether at once graceful and symmetrical as viewed from the distance ... perhaps one of the prettiest settings is when it is seen from the junction of High Street and Prospect Road, using the latter as sort of vista, but pretty as it is from the distance, it loses none of its decided charm on even close approach, and, indeed on reaching the foot of the gentle knoll which it surmounts, it becomes genuinely impressive. The approach including the leading-up stepways, guards and coplings are of the very best concrete. So is the series of terraced mountings and all ramps. The
pedestal plinth,
oversails and
cornice are, like the shaft, of beautifully-cut
Portland stone laid in mathematically harmonised
ashlar work, the hardness being broken at intervals by the introduction
half-courses. The shaft is
obelisk and carries throughout the true Egyptian
ratios ending in a
quadrafacial pyramid of correct proportions. The deadly dulness of the ordinary obelisk has been got rid of by the introduction of a collar of four panels showing delightful
Celtic interlacing in
basso relievo. On the southward face of the shaft there is shown one of the foci of the Roman lictor, with conventional additions. On the oversail on this side is a figure alleged to be of
Erin holding the palm branch of victory but giving, none the less a sense of mourning – a charmingly thought-out idea. The Lion of Victory also stands out in
alto relievo, and very gracefully on the opposite side is a massive bronze shield on which are graven the names of the fallen heroes whom it commemorates. On the Southern face midway up the shaft is the legend
Died in the service of their country, and, on the panel of the pedestal is carved:
The Great War 1914–1918. On the Northern end raised on
repoussé bronze is the Latin legend
Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria Mori. Altogether the War Memorial was worth waiting for and is a credit to Bangor. South African War Memorial, Newcastle upon Tyne (02).JPG|
South African War Memorial,
Newcastle upon Tyne, 1907 The winged figure of Victory, Boer War Memorial (geograph 3657006).jpg|Detail of
South African War Memorial, 1907 Land Wars Memorial, Auckland, New Zealand, by Thomas Eyre Macklin.jpg|
Land Wars Memorial,
Auckland, 1920 Bangor War Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 963800.jpg|
Bangor War Memorial,
County Down, 1927 ==Collections==