MARINE ART NEWS Sculpture: a Vital Marine Art
"It is impossible to detach the form from the idea,for the idea only exists by virtue of the form ." - Flaubert Sculpture has long been a major component in American marine art and continues to contribute to the ever-growing interest in, and appreciation of marine art today. American marine sculpture has come a long way from its Colonial utilitarian origin in ships' figureheads and sailors' decorative carvings of ivory or bone. By the mid-1800s, American sculptors had won renown both in the traditional Europeanbased monumental sculpture and in the newly emerging naturalistic sculpture which drew inspiration from the life and history of their native land. The newer movements in sculpture, since World War II, have included the adopting of contemporary materials , metal s and plastics rather than marble or bronze, and in marine sculpture, the very great interest in environmental works: marine mammals, birds and fish. The proliferation of monumental environmental sculpture for municipal , corporate and public attractions and organizations has been tremendous.
main element, the leaping sailfish, is 36-ft high, 150-ft long and weighs 10,000pounds, while on the sides of the fountain are other sports fish, bottle-nose dolphins
"The Strike," by Jim Gray
and the Ridley sea turtles, representing Florida's endangered marine mammals. Ullberg, a native of Sweden, is a Full Academician with the National Academy of Design, a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, a member of the American Society of Marine Artists and gold medal winner from numerous other art societies. The second illustration, a heroic scale figure "The Strike," is a nine-foot bronze ~-..........-.................................................__.........,.....,.........,.....-.i recently fini shed by JimGray,ofPigeon Forge, Tennessee, as a private commission. He has been painting as well as sculpting most of his life, and a good deal ofitmarinesubjects. Gray 's work is included in many corporate, public and private collections and has been featured in many publications. A board "Sailfish in Three Stages of Ascending," by Kent Ullberg member and officer A pioneer in this type of work has of the American Society of Marine Artbeen noted sculptor Kent Ullberg, who ists, Gray operates galleries in Pigeon innovated the sculpturing of whales, dol- Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. phins and fish and has completed nearly DENNIS B EAUMONT 30 monumental sculptures worldwide. Dennis Beaumont is an artist and curHe has also been an innovator in the use rent President of the American Society of modem metals- including extremely of Marine Artists. Sea History is dedifficult-to-work stainless steel. lighted to welcome him as a regular Newly installed in the Brouward Con- contributor to "Marine Art News." vention Center for the City of Ft. Lauder* * * * * dale, Florida, Ullberg's "Sailfish in Three Worthy of note is a retrospective of the Stages of Ascending," created in bronze, work of William Partridge Burpee ( 1846took three years to complete and is the 1940), the Maine native noted for his world 's largest wildlife monument. Its coastal New England paintings. Burpee ' s 28
work in watercolor, oil and pastel is described as linking the traditions of Fitz Hugh Lane to the post impressioni sm of Rockwell Kent. "William Partridge Burpee; American Marine Impressionist" can be seen: • May 3-July 4 at The William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum , Elm Street, Rockland ME 04841 •July 22-0ctober 6 at The Philadelphia Maritime Museum , 321 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA 19106. A companion catalog and biography (96pp, 60 color and 22 b+w; $29.95hb), published by Northeastern University, is available from Chi ld s Gallery, 169 Newbury Street, Boston MA 02116. Exhibitions • April 25-0ctober 11, The Great Age of Sail: Treasures from the National Maritime Museum at the San Diego Museum of Art, comprises some eighty paintings, including works by Canaletto, Turner, William Van de Velde, Hogarth and Copley (see "Marine Art" section, SH60). San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego CA 92101. Other venues: November 21January 17, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk VA; February 28, 1993-J une 2, 1993, Peabody Museum, Salem MA. • April 26-September 20, 3rd Annual Mystic 100, an invitational exhibition of 100 of the country's top artists. Mystic Maritime Gallery, Mystic CT 06355 . •May 1-31 , First Annual International Martime Art Exposition, includes a selection of work from ASMA and Royal Society of Marine Arts members. Vallejo Galleries, 1610 West Coast Highway, Newport Beach CA 92663. • May 3 through October, The Maritime Art of A. De Clerck, an exhibit of the late 19th-century Belgian pierhead painter who worked in Antwerp and Liverpool painting anything that visited these ports-from Maine "Downeasters" to English Channel crossing half-brigs and snows. Maine Maritime Museum , 243 Washington Street, Bath ME 04530. •May 22-September 21, 10th ASMA National Exhibition of Marine Art, at the R. J. Schaefer Gallery, Mystic Seaport Museum , Mystic CT 06355. • June 17-September 8, Marine Art Show, the Canadian Society of Marine Artists in conjunction with the North American Marine Arts Society will open a juried show of contemporary marine art. Vancouver Maritime Museum, 1905 Ogden Avenue, Vancouver BCV 6J 1A3. SEA HISTORY 61, SPRING 1992