There are many landscape paintings in circulation, signed JM Ducker, most commonly, of rural Surrey and the Scottish Highlands. But for an artist so prolific, actively working less than a century ago, it is both remarkable and mysterious that so little is actually known and recorded about them.
Reflecting on this void, one further thought occurred to me: that over time, the chances of rediscovering anything about the artist further diminish, day by day, as the passage of time increases the distance between the artist and ourselves. With this website, I hope to amass any remaining knowledge and records of the artist, by asking visitors to contribute what they know or have learned from off-line sources.
Essentially, all that is currently known about the artist is that which has been recorded in the artist’s own hand - within the images of the paintings themselves or handwritten on their reverse. One thing that is already known is that exactly the same scene and location was painted again and again – although sometimes the rear of the paintings were left blank and the scene undisclosed.
With the rear of some of the paintings left blank, some owners of J M Ducker paintings are unable to identify the location in their painting. As well as requesting information about the artist, I am requesting that owners upload a photo of their J M Ducker or Jack M Ducker painting(s), and any writing on the rear. Over time, I hope this will produce a database of images by the artist and help identify the locations depicted, where they are unknown. Best wishes, Richard.
