John O'Brien (marine artist)
John O'Brien (1831 – 1891) was a Canadian marine artist. He excelled at ship portraits combined with dramatic storm scenes. Career. John Daniel O’Connell O'Brien (named for the Irish “Liberator,” Daniel O’Connell) is believed to have been born in Saint John, New Brunswick but his parents moved to Halifax when he was a baby. He emerged as a self-taught artist in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1850 and advertised himself as a professional in 1853. In 1857, he studied in England with the English landscape artist John W. Carmichael and returned to Halifax the following year, having  learned to colour photographs as well as to paint stormy skies. His career flourished as Nova Scotia's shipping industry grew and his many notable paintings include a portrait of the famous clipper Stag and dramatic storm portraits of the warship HMS "Galatea. At the height of his career in 1859, he suffered a partial loss of vision. His career suffered in the 1870s, when he produced very few works, but revived in the 1880s.