James was born in Derby in 1954. He received his basic art training at the Derby Joseph Wright Art School although he is a self-taught artist. He works mainly in oils and specialises in marine subjects, his favourite subjects being deep water sailing ships of the nineteenth century.
His work has been influenced by artists such as Montague Dawson and Thomas Somerscales. His love of ships and the sea emanate from having lived by the sea on the south coast of England. His other works include coastal scenes, still life, townscapes, figurative and some landscape.
James Brereton's work is recorded and illustrated in Denys Brook-hart’s book “20th Century British Marine Paining”, and E.H.H. Archibald’s “Dictionary of Sea Painters of Europe and America”.
He has exhibited at the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London and West End, as well as many galleries throughout the country. His pictures are to be found in private collections in the UK, Eire, Belgium, Oman, Japan and the USA.
