PAINTINGS of the Isle of Man by the artist William Hoggatt are to be featured on a new set of stamps being issued by the Post Office next month.
A set of five stamps has been produced for release on February 20, including a first day cover, stamp sheets and a presentation pack. All the stamps are marked at the 38p standard rate.
Although he wasn’t born in the Isle of Man, William Hoggatt was fondly known as a ‘Manxman’ and the title of the new set reflects his strong connections to the Island, being entitled ‘Almost a Manxman’.
Hoggatt’s artistic talents were recognised whilst he was still at school when he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art. Rather than study in London, Hoggatt chose to be apprenticed to a local firm of stained glass manufacturers and continued his studies at the Storey Institute in Lancaster.
Born in Lancaster in 1879, William Hoggatt’s paintings - in oil, pastel and watercolour - are well known for their depiction of Manx landscapes
Because of parental opposition, he eloped with Dazine Archer - whom he met whilst working at the Tate Gallery in London, to marry in the Isle of Man in 1907. They later moved to Port Erin where they remained until Hoggatt’s death in 1961.
Once Hoggatt moved to the Isle of Man he restricted his painting entirely to Manx subjects. Many of his finest watercolours, pastels and oil paintings were drawn from scenes within walking distance of his Port Erin home.
These local scenes won him an international reputation. Manx artist, the late Norman Sayle, was also known to be a keen fan of Hoggatt’s work.
Hoggatt’s work was reproduced in journals such as The Connoisseur and The Studio. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London from the early 1900s until his death. In 1925 he was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. He was also a member of the Liverpool and Manchester Academies.
Hoggatt and his wife used their home to provide a regular meeting place for members of the Island’s artistic community, he was also unstinting in his encouragement of local artists, giving demonstration lectures at the Manx Museum and acting as President of the Manx Artists Group.
A number of his paintings are still on display in the Manx Museum and many of Hoggatt’s paintings remain on the Isle of Man as part of private collections.
