Maritime Life

Collector's Focus: Marine Art

By John O’Hern

Growing up on the south shore of Boston, my brother and I developed a love for all things nautical from the lobster boats, dories and pleasure craft of our own time to the thriving shipbuilding hub of the 17th to 19th centuries. The North River winds for 12 miles through several south shore towns and was the home to 24 shipyards that built over 1,000 ships during that period.Marine Arts Gallery, T-Wharf Boston, oil on canvas, 20 x 30", by Dusan Kadlec (1942-2018).

We took a dingy with an outboard up the river to discover the remains of the site where the ship Columbia was built in 1773. The Columbia was the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe and its name was given to the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. A historical marker is the only reminder on the bank of the river among the peaceful salt marshes.

Donald Demers merges a similar past and present on the north shore of Boston in his painting The Old Essex. He comments, “The Essex River in Essex, Massachusetts, is the setting for this quiet, nostalgic and contemplative painting. The storied Essex River was the birthplace of many legendary Gloucester fishing schooners where they were built and launched from the yards of A.D. Story, Harold Burnham and the like. What was once a vibrant commercial shipbuilding center frenzied with the sounds and smells of wood, oakum, tar and such is now a serene and gentle backwater. As I painted the picture, I ruminated over the area’s previous character and role in maritime history.” The painting is in the traveling 18th National Exhibition of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) of which he is a fellow.Eckert & Ross Fine Art, The ‘Angelique’, oil on linen, 10 x 10", by C.W. Mundy.

Donald Demers, The Old Essex, oil on mounted linen, 18 x 24"

Demers grew up in central Massachusetts and summered on the coast in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where he learned to sail. He eventually became a crew member on sailing vessels that plied the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Caribbean. His familiarity with the sea and his early career as an illustrator combine in strong compositions of the many atmospheric moods of the coast.

C.W. Mundy is also a fellow of ASMA who began his career in illustration, which he left in 1994 to explore painting in plein air. He went to France the following year and immersed himself in the techniques of the impressionists and their fascination with light. Gladwell & Patterson, HMS Leopard VS USS Chesapeake, oil on canvas, 23½ x 35½", by Ronny Moortgat

Gladwell & Patterson, The Glorious First of June, 1794, watercolor, 11 x 20", by Ronny Moortgat.

The schooners that sailed out of Maine carried cargo along the coast. The lumber for my family home arrived at the lumber yard on the harbor aboard a schooner from Maine. Many of the sturdy vessels have been restored and now sail as pleasure craft from ports such as Camden. The windjammer Angelique is rendered in thick impasto and brushstrokes that portray not only the substantial form of the vessel but also its ephemeral reflections in the water.

In the pages of this special section dedicated to marine art, collectors will find a breadth of vessels, docks and shores that define this treasured genre. There are also insights and techniques described by the artists and galleries, providing a bigger picture to how a painting comes alive.

Anton Uhl has been a professional artist for the past 51 years. A former set designer for opera, TV and movies, his works include commissions in glass, bronze, paintings and murals in the collections of celebrities around the world. Among his subjects are beach scenes and surfers. “I have always loved the magic of art and its power to move and inspire, to give us vision and help us transcend the bonds of the day to day,” he says.

Didi Menendez of PoetsArtists has assembled a number of artists who participate in the maritime genre, including Jan Anders Nelson and Yvonne Melchers. Clockwise from top left: Marine Arts Gallery, Beach Paths, Naples, FL, oil on canvas, 24 x 20", by Emile Gruppe (1896-1978); Susan Powell Fine Art, Calm Return, oil, 15 x 30", by Leonard Mizerek; Susan Powell Fine Art, Low Tide Colors, acrylic, 7 x 9", by Del-Bourree Bach; Eldred’s, Shipping off Greenwich, oil on canvas, 10¾ x 17½", by Robert Salmon (ca. 1775-1851). Estimate: $18/22,000; Eldred’s, The American packet Sheffield approaching Liverpool, oil on canvas, 26½ x 42", by Miles Walters (1773-1849) and Samuel Walters (1811-1882). Estimate: $15/25,000; Eldred’s, The side-wheeler Daniel Webster, oil on canvas, 22 x 36", by Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (1850-1921). Estimate: $15/20,000Sally Ladd Cole, Rolling Surf, oil on canvas, 18 x 36"

“Growing up in Haarlem, The Netherlands, and spending considerable time at the North Sea coast and later living in Spain and in Italy, my paintings tend to alternate between manifestations of the cool light of the Low Countries and the warm light of the Mediterranean,” says Melchers. “Incapable of embracing just one topic, my subject matter varies widely to satisfy my passion for diversity. My series include North Seascapes, Siena Palio Portraits (contemporary portraits of Italian men and boys), Rooms with a View, and some Italian scenes, still lifes and flowers. Although my paintings are quite distinct in light, color and atmosphere, all are painted using the restricted five-color palette classically used by Claude Monet.”

Russell Kiernan launched Marine Arts Gallery 1968 and built it into a source for maritime art for over 50 years. It saw more than 12,000 paintings sold to collectors and museums. Russell’s son, Peter R. Kiernan is now the second-generation gallery owner and continues the tradition with past artists such as James E. Buttersworth and Emile Gruppe and by working with contemporary artists including Karen Blackwood, Joseph McGurl and John Stobart, among others. “A lot of what we do is to educate clients about the artists we represent and the benefits of buying fine art they will enjoy every day,” says Peter.King Galleries, On the Pier, oil on canvas, 36 x 72", by Andrea Vargas.

Marine Arts Gallery, Sharp Keel, oil on canvas, 38 x 38", by Robert Bolster

“Looking at my paintings of coastal New England or the Hudson River Valley, it might be easy to think these are scenes of long ago, lost to the past,” says artist Ray Crane. “Often, however, the schooners, sloops and steamers in my work are ones that live on today—restored or as replicas—and serve as treasured reminders of the proud maritime history of the northeast.

In all of Crane’s paintings, he blends past and present. The works, he says, are “showing scenes of land, sea, river and shore that are unchanging, together with iconic vessels that are as familiar today as they were long ago—all serving as a reminder of the heritage that stays with us even as times change.”Susan Powell Fine Art, Harbor Morning, oil, 12 x 16", by Neal Hughes.

Anton Uhl, Javier Surfing, oil on canvas, 24 x 48"

Richard Loud was introduced to the beauty of classic yachts as a child and they have since served as the inspiration for his artwork. “My father was a shipwright who was inspired by Herreshoff designed yachts. Currently, I am lucky to own a 41-foot 1936 Alden yawl. I enjoy creating paintings that combine the classic design of wooden boats built pre-World War II era and sailing,” Loud says.

Sally Ladd Cole, who is represented by Boston-based Sloane Merrill Gallery, explains, “I am always drawn to water and how it is influenced by its surroundings and light. The infinitely changing colors and motion of the water are the inspiration for many of my paintings whether it be a brook, a marsh or the ocean. In order to capture the essence of the place in a moment of time, I work on-site to create small color studies which I then combine with other references in my studio for the final painting. My paintings invite the viewer to share this connection with the undeveloped open spaces that are becoming increasingly rare and are so important to conserve.”Sally Ladd Cole, Foam Pattern on the Surf, oil on linen, 24 x 18"

Anton Uhl, Laguna, oil on canvas, 16 x 20"

Sally Ladd Cole, Schoodic Winter Offshore Wind, oil on linen, 24 x 24"

At King Galleries, with locations in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, collectors can find the works of Andrea Vargas, including her scenes of the Pacific Coast. “Plein air studies inform my life-size paintings, and journeys to the coast gift a unique element that I miss when in the southwest—the palatable scent of salt and ocean waves,” she says.

Eldred’s annual Marine Sale is scheduled for August 13 and 14, and will feature items from the Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts. Paintings from other estates and collections will also be included, as will other types of marine art including scrimshaw, ship models and antique nautical instruments and apparatus. Among those are works by Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen, Robert Salmon and Miles Walters and Samuel Walters.

“The advice I usually give to new collectors is to buy works by well-listed artists and try to buy known ships or subjects,” says Joshua Eldred, president of Eldred’s and head of its fine arts department. “Knowing which ship or what battle the painting depicts allows the collector a chance to really explore the history of the work.” Clockwise fom top left: Gladwell & Patterson, Britannia Leading, oil on canvas, 20 x 40", by Ronny Moortgat; King Galleries, The Bay (California), oil on canvas, 48 x 60", by Andrea Vargas; Richard Loud, Fun Day at the Beach, Surfside, Nantucket 1900, oil on linen, 15 x 23"; Ray Crane, Outbound Past Spring Point Light, oil on canvas, 10 x 18"; Richard Loud, Sound Inter-Clubs, Long Island 1934, oil on linen, 25 x 42"; King Galleries, The Ventura Trestle, acrylic canvas, 84 x 48", by Andrea Vargas.

Ray Crane, Peekskill Bay, Rounding Jones Point, oil on canvas, 10 x 18

Ray Crane, Unexpected Arrival, oil on canvas, 12 x 20"

At London’s Gladwell & Patterson collectors can find the maritime scenes of Ronny Moortgat. According to the gallery, “Ronny sees himself as a reporter, documenting these vessels, be they the ancient ships or their modern equivalents, for future generations. It is through a combination of his depth of knowledge of the rigging, his experiences at sea and his talent as an artist that he seemingly effortlessly portrays the character and power of the ships.”

Susan Powell Fine Art represents the works of Leonard Mizerek, Del-Bourree Bach and Neal Hughes, who have been painting for more than 35 years. There is much more direct study of nature, and all three gallery artists are members of the American Society of Marine Artists and have been juried into national and international marine art exhibition.PoetsArtists, Washed Ashore X/North Sea Beach, oil on panel, 11 4/5 x 11 4/5", by Yvonne Melchers

PoetsArtists, Night Hawk, Gig Harbor, inkjet on Arches 88, 16 x 24", by Jan Anders NelsonMizerek finds inspiration for his painting Calm Return in the sunset light effects reflecting through the sails and shimmering on the water. Hughes’ oil Harbor Morning strikes a perfect balance with a combination of poetry and fact.; it’s not about painting every detail. Realist Bach uses an unusual vantage point with a close-up view of a beetle cat in Low Tide Colors, and the details are as important as the atmospheric light.

Gallery owner Susan Powell adds, “For collectors, marine art is timeless and transcends the trends of the moment. Coupled with the popularity of this genre, it’s important that a painting speaks to you on an emotional level. When purchasing, consider award-winning, nationally exhibited artists who are finding new ways of visualizing content and bringing something new to this classic subject matter.” —