David Wingate Maritime Art

The son of the Chairman of the Straits Steamship Company in Singapore, David Wingate was born in Johor Bahru Malaysia. Educated initially in the Far East in Penang and Singapore, he was then sent to boarding schools in England, making the long journey back to Singapore for school holidays twice a year. All through his education he showed a flair for the Arts, later pursuing photography with a passion.

The second voyage back to the UK from England was aged 5 on the Blue Funnel ship the Ascanius. The captain made him a small wooden yacht on that voyage and this must have been the start of his love of ships, sailing and the sea. It is somewhat ironic that his career
lead him to the airlines instead of a sea going job, working for Qantas, Malaysia Airlines, North-Aire and then Netjets.

In 1990, during a break between aviation jobs, David lived in Dartmouth England and rekindled his artistic pursuits. He started his series of paintings of old merchant ships some of which can be found in the Gallery pages of this web site. He was determined
to preserve in paint some of the romance of a bye gone era of transportation, before the advent of the super tanker and container ships sent the smaller craft to the scrap yards and history books. Signed limited edition prints of some of these ships were displayed for several years in Dartmouth at the Bond Nautical Antiques Gallery and a small display at the Royal Dart Yacht Club. Many of these prints now adorn the walls of maritime enthusiasts and art collectors around the World.

Over the last few years, David has been on several Pacific and Transatlantic voyages with various shipping Lines, endorsing his love of the sea and the painting old ships! Compiled in these Gallery pages are some of his paintings, with many more to come in the future.