"Convoy of the Cripples" oil 32x43 Raymond Massey October 16, 1944, USS The Sullivans wheels sharply to knock down the Japanese airplane which torpedoed the already crippled Houston, in tow to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
A classic broadside portrait of the British three-master Wavertree, in period style, was included by ASMA's first president Charles Lundgren. A low, distant viewpoint; warm yellow glimmering through cool green, gently curling seas; the corkscrew set of the yards against a fading orange sunset emphasized sober dignity. Grace Harwar, a British three-master portrayed under short sail by Frank Handlen, dived through cold, slate seas, breaking at the near edge of the frame. The elevated view of her port quarter asserts the press of gale force winds, and the raw greys and veil of spray painted over Impressionist color expressed their cutting fury. Tom Wells specializes in square riggers of the F. Laeisz fleet, for he rounded the Horn on Passat. His portrait of Pamir surging against a windraked sea was brought to life, with films and anecdotes by Captain Irving Johnson at the exhibit opening, and a visit to the living ship Peking at South Street Seaport. The utter stillness of icebound Hudson's Bay allowed Chris Blossom to portray the intricate rigging and deckhouses of the whaling bark Canton in 1839, through reflectons from each surface. Subtle highlights of brown defined wood at different angles to the sun, for example, and pale blues flickered over the ice floes. An Impressionistic technique captures the lively chop and lush landscape of the Hudson River for Bill Muller. His anecdotal scene of the Hudson River Day Line paddle wheeler Robert Fulton churning past trap fishermen and little sloops expresses the glorious optimism of the era. Victor Mays worked with areas of color to portray a Thames sailing barge grounded out at ebb tide, in the familiar comfort of Southwark quay. The spare, flat composition and sweetly harmonious palette became fully atmospheric through Mays' judicious selection of crisp and soft edges. A companion watercolor
"Pamir Below the Ramirez" oil approx. 24x30 Thomas Wells Dull golds glowing through a leaden sky set off Wells' precise rendering of rigging, learned as seaman on the Passat.