MARINE ART
Guest Editorial
MUSEUM OUALilY
SHIP MODELS
THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE ART AND SHIP MODELS
exists as the nation's first professional business devoted to the propagation , documentation and care of museum quality ship models. "MUSEUM QUALITY"
ship models , registered and scratch built using techniques and materials required to meet museum standards, are being offered by the Department of Marine Art and Ship Models. Priced from $1 ,000 . Viewing by appointment only.
Museum Quality Ship Models Brochure
$1.00
DEPARTMENT OF MARINE ART AND SHIP MODELS
Inventory Subscription, published quarterly, and Museum Quality Ship Models Brochure $12.00 Send check or money order to: Peter Sorlien, Director DEPARTMENT OF MARINE ART AND SHIP MODELS
Room 2 I Mystic Seaport Museum Stores, Inc. I Mystic, CT 06355
Harborside Wor~pace in Stamford, Connecticut 84,000 sq. ft. I 21 ,000 sq. ft. per floor. Now ready f • Dock your boat h~[e and join internationally recogni firms in this spectac ular waterfront location.
Call Bill Fox. Collins Development Corporation
43 Lindstrom Road 38
I Stamford, Connecticut 06902 I 203 / 357-0123
The novel notion that Americans should have a monopoly of painting their own history has been advanced recently in these pages . .One wonders how far we should extend this argument. May only Greeks or Persians paint the Battle of Salamis? And only Japanese and Russians the Battle of Tsushima? What devilment made Winslow Homer paint seascapes in England, or Turner in Italy? I have on my walls marine paintings by Swedish, German, French, English, American, Chinese, Australian and other artists. Should I throw all-save the English-into the dust-bin? One thing may be said regardless of imaginary frontiers: There are good and bad artists on both sides of the Atlantic. When my publishing firm issued a questionnaire, partly based on marine art preferences, we found that easily the most popular artists were those best able to publicize them-
''What devilment made Winslow Homer paint seascapes in England?" selves, or who possessed good agents to that end. These were seldom in the first flight. Most of the really top-flight artists were obviously unknown to our readers . Artistic integrity and publicity do not always drive in tandem . Montague Dawson, schooled by Napier Herny, was a firstclass artist until he became contracted to a gallery, expert in publicity, which dictated what it wanted, namely: ships at absurd angles of heel, the curves of the roach and leeches of each sail so exaggerated that any sailmaker would turn in his grave, and with far too much canvas for the wind and sea . The ships looked like some grotesque, sailing sputniks . We all know them. Many younger artists have made themselves ridiculous by trying to emulate this style. Dawson, of course, knew better (vide his earlier works and those with different subject matter), but the consequence was that Montague Dawson, deservedly famous if left to himself, achieved his international popularity for the wrong reason . One could mention others . A contemporary artist, whose works receive tremendous coverage, has a multiplicity of vanishing points in each canvas. Many others research assiduously and produce first-class technical detail. Yet one I know decks his ships, in house-flag, ensign and any other bunting he can dream up, even when hove to in hurricane conditions! When I asked him why, he replied: "That is what my customers want." No doubt he was right. So we see pictures of men going aloft on the lee side. These things are not included in sail plans, seamanship books or the like, and I would hazard the guess SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1982/ 83