A Royal Navy Squadron of the White running up the Channel past the Eddystone lighthouse

Marine Painter-in-Ordinary to George II, Dominic Serres' work was widely applauded: 'Serres is the best painter I know...', so says a letter from Captain Hyde Parker on board the Invincible in 1777. In the same year Serres was commissioned by Hyde Parker to paint episodes from the American War of Independence (1775-82). It was during this time that Serres also met George Romney (1734-1802), with whom he was later to collaborate on a number of portraits.