Maritime Art

My interest in history and sailing combine in an interest in maritime art. I'm looking to acquire a powerful piece and am still looking.

For a more vigorous image I'm looking at scenes from Trafalgar by Auguste Ballin (1842-1909) whose prints are available from Art Marine UK, and Maritime Prints.

Trafalgar - 1:00pm (Victory firing into Buccaneer)

Some newer marine artists are Steven Dews, John Christian, R.G. Grimson and Geoff Hunt.

H.M.S. Pandora Gives Chase - Steven Dews

First Shots - John Christian

Stop and Search 1770 - R.G. Grimson

RMS Surprise off Calcutta - Geoff Hunt

Nelson's Day, Battle of Trafalgar - Randall Wilson

Art Galleries

I've been to a number of art galleries but there are still many I'd like to visit.

In Europe, I have visited the Louvre, in Paris, the Pardo, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid,  the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the Delphi Archaeological Museum in Delphi, the National Gallery in London, the National Gallery in Dublin, the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Capitoline Museums and the Borghese Gallery in Rome and the Manchester Art Gallery. I saw a special exhibition of the works of Canaletto at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

In North America, I have visited the National Gallery in Ottawa, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery in Washington.

Galleries that I have not yet visited but want to see are, in Europe, the Mauritshuis in The Hague, and the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, plus the many galleries in Rome, Venice and Milan.

In North America, I want to visit the Frick Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the Dali Museum in St.Petersburg Florida. 

Louvre, Paris

Art Posters

So many talented illustrators created some of the greatest travel and advertising poster of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Some have become iconic and are instantly recognizable, many in the Art Deco period.

Others: Busch binoculars, Saint. Ives, Orient Express - Stewart, Orient Express 1888, Glacier Express, Colwyn Bay, Lake Garda, Normandie, Santorini.

Sources for high quality reproductions are Pictorem and AllPosters.

Waterhouse Exhibition

In 2009-10 the Musée de Beaux Arts in Montreal held a special exhibition of the works of John William Waterhouse entitled John William Waterhouse: Le jardin des sortilèges (Garden of Enchantment). This was a world-wide travelling exhibition, but Montreal was the only venue in North America and had over 90,000 visitors.

Paintings displayed:
The Lady of Shalott, 1888-93
The Lady of Shalott, 1894
The Favourites of Emperor Honorius
Saint Eulalia
After the Dance
Dolce far Niente
Sick Child Brought into the Temple of Aesculapius
Cleopatra
Miranda
Consulting the Oracle
The Magic Circle
I am Half Sick of Shadows said the Lady of Shalott
Circe offering the Cup to Ulysses
The Siren
A Mermaid
Ulysses and the Sirens
Circe Invidiosa
Circe
The Love Philtre
In the Peristyle
Hylas amd the Nymphs
A Naiad
Psyche and the Golden Box
Mariamne Leaving the Judgement

I remember distinctly Cleopatra, which was captivating, the longing expressed in Miranda, the wistfulness of Dolce far Niente, and the melancholy of Saint Eulalia. I studied The Favourites of Emperor Honorius, which was my favourite, for about half an hour (at least) finding more and more interesting elements in the composition.

Dolce far Niente

Grinling Gibbons

The greatest wood carver ever, his works can be found throughout Britain. He also did stone carving, mostly marble, but I prefer his wood carvings. I saw his works at York Minster (marble); the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and Fairfax House, York.

I want to see his other works particularly St. Paul's Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace, Petworth House in West Sussex. His work is in two churches in London: Church of St Michael Paternoster Royal, and St James, Piccadilly. His works can also be seen at the Wren Library, Cambridge University, and at the Trinity College Chapel, Oxford University. Gibbons also made the marble monument for Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, located in the south choir aisle of Westminster Abbey. There is a nice carved panel at Northbrook House, Kirtlington (near Bicester), Oxfordshire, but it may not be accessible to the public.

Outside of Britain, the Cosimo Panel, an allegory of art triumphing over hatred and turmoil, is housed in the Museo degli Argenti at Pitti Palace in Florence. The Modena Panel is a memorial for Charles II and which also features a medallion self-portrait by Gibbons. The panel is displayed in the Estense Gallery in Modena, Italy.

Petworth House

St. James Church

Trinity College, Cambridge

I purchased a recently published book Grinling Gibbons: Master Carver by Paul Rabbitts.

Other works on Gibbons:
Grinling Gibbons and the Woodwork of his Age by Henry Avray Tipping, 1914
Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving by David Esterly, V&A Publications, 2000
The Work of Grinling Gibbons, Geoffrey Beard, John Murray, 1989

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David Esterly is exceptional good, and is continuing (or resurrecting) the art of fine wood carving. There is a good article about and interview with Esterly in Harvard Magazine. In fact, he was commissioned to repair works of Grinling Gibbons after a portion was severely damaged in a fire at Hampton Court Palace.