Featured Works From Our National Maritime Show

By Aly Schuman on May 26, 2017

On Saturday Co|So’s National Maritime Show: At Sea officially opened in our Upper Gallery. Artists from all over the country submitted works of ships, sails, and surf in hopes to be chosen by our distinguished jurors, John Stobart and J. Russell Jinishian. John Stobart is a renowned maritime artist known for depicting American harbors during the “Golden Age of Sail.” He founded the John Stobart Foundation to provide scholarships to aspiring artists who excel in painting outdoor scenes. J. Russell Jinishian is recognized as the nation’s leading authority on contemporary marine art. He is an author, lecturer, and publisher, and currently runs the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery in Fairfield, CT.

We are thrilled to display the paintings our jurors have chosen. Have a sneak peek at some of the selected works below!

Copley artist member RJ Houghton captured a close sailboat race in bright, vibrant colors. In sailing, tacking “duels” come about when two boats get too near and try to gain control over each other. Each boat tries to force the other to concede and grant them the lead.

RJ Houghton, Dueling at the Start, acrylic on canvas, 21 x 18

Richard Allison’s Revolutionary Nocturne features a Revolutionary-era warship that looks like it could have sailed right out of Pirates of the Caribbean. It actually depicts the famous Revolutionary War battle between John Paul Jones aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, and Captain Richard Pearson aboard the HMS Serapis. Jones won the battle but the Bonhomme Richard sank into the ocean, and so he took the Serapis for his own. The ship can be identified by the unique flag, which was hastily made to identify the newly-American ship, and is now known as the Serapis flag.

Richard Allison, Revolutionary Nocturne, 20 x 24, oil on linen

In another dramatic historical scene, Doug Zider painted the SS Golden Gate, a steamer operated by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to transport mail (as well as passengers) from Panama to San Francisco. A fire started in SS Golden Gate’s engine room, spreading rapidly and tragically sinking the ship and its passengers. In the foreground of the painting, lucky survivors row away in a lifeboat.

Doug Zider, Sinking of the Golden Gate 1862, oil, 24 x 18

At Sea has non-traditional maritime art as well. Copley artist member Joan Brancale painted a more leisurely marine scene of a lounger resting on the front of a boat. He is a “weekend sailor,” stealing away for a couple days’ recreation in the refreshing sea spray. For now he’ll enjoy a short reprieve in the sun before he has to return to the week’s responsibilities.

Joan Brancale, Weekend Sailor, oil, 18 x 12

Copley Master Mikel Wintermantel painted a triptych of the lighthouse on Fire Island off the coast of Long Island. The current lighthouse was completed in 1858, a beacon for sailors as the first evidence of land after the long journey across the Atlantic. In this scene it is not dark enough yet for the lighthouse’s lamp to provide necessary visibility for the boats offshore. The moon is out early, cast in pink from the setting sun.

Mikel Wintermantel, Pink Moon ~ Fire Island, oil on copper, 34 x 20

Our National Maritime Show: At Sea is on view May 20th through July 6th in the Upper Gallery. Stop by to see all of the selected paintings in person today!

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