Campbell Archibald Mellon

Twentieth Century Landscape Oil Goodrich Castle Ruins on the River Wye England

1940 s

Painter in oil, especially of East Anglian beach and coastal scenes. Having studied painting privately with Carl Brennir in Nottingham, Mellon went on to settle in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, at the end of World War I, where he had tuition for three years from Arnesby Brown. Their styles are similar, and Mellon became noted for his small, uncomplicated, breezy panels of the Norfolk seaside. His pictures are in public collections in Bristol, Yarmouth, Sheffield and elsewhere. He exhibited at the Fine Art Society, the Royal Academy, Walker Art Gallery and many others. Goodrich Castle controlled a key location near Monmouth. The poet William Wordsworth described the castle "as the noblest ruin in Herefordshire". Campbell Mellon was based in East Anglia for many of the inter war years, but in 1940 he was bombed out of his home at Gorleston. He relocated to the Wye Valley near Symonds Yat for the rest of the war years. This work dates from that time.