what he calls "the romance of the sea." A relative newcomer to the scene is Cooper Hart. Not unlike other artists of the area, Hart draws on his own unique sea experience. In his mid-twenties he travelled the Inside Passage aboard a fishing boat on delivery to Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska, the first of many journeys on such vessels. Since that time he has worked in shipyards in Seattle and painted. "I try to keep a mix of both historical and contemporary vessels in my work," he explains, "I think the contemporary boats are often as fascinating as the old ones," and in the case of fishing vessel s, he appreciates a working hi story , often overlooked, that offers a bridge between past and present: "Some of these people," he adds, "are on the same vessels as their grandparents." Nicolas Kirsten is impressed by the fine illustrative quality of Hart's work, which he considers "catches the feeling of the atmosphere here"-a maritime atmosphere apparently well suited to inspired marine art. D
Tug Magic and British bark Gladys in Puget Sound, 1890s, by Cooper Hart
Fish tender Victory in Seattle, one of many power scows built during World War II to aid the Aluetian campaign. Described by artist Cooper Hart as "miserable to go to sea in."
Seen in Northwest waters in the late 1800s were the steam barks of the Arctic whaling fleet . In this painting by Bill Ryan, the steam bark Belvedere is pictured offthe coast of Alaska. She was among the whalers shut in by ice near Point Barrow at the end of the whaling season in 1897. Three of the fleet were crushed by the Arctic pack ice as they tried to escape west of Point Barrow. The Belvedere survived.
SEA HISTORY 61, SPRING 1992
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