British painter Frank Mason was known for his marine subjects and coastal and harbor scenes, and is regarded as one of the inventors of Art Deco travel and railway posters. He was a teenage cadet on HMS Conway and studied mechanical engineering. Initially self-taught, Mason then studied at Scarborough College of Art. During World War I Mason was an official war artist on ships of the British navy. In World War II, he worked on camouflage paintings of ships. He also produced a steady stream of magazine and book illustrations.
Racing at Cowes, Britannia in Background shows a regatta off the Isle of Wight and is a 32 x 44 cm watercolor. The work was created for Mason’s “Book of British Ships”.