Ciloucerter Shftx Mid FidiermMt) the Art oj ~ HOJM by Reese Palley r was rhe binh of an era; ir was rhe death of an era. Ir was rhe moment when C lio and Neptune, rhe muse of hisrory and rhe god of rhe sea, abandoned rhe smooth glide of rhe waltz and gave themselves ro rhe raucous jangle of rhe Charlesron. Ir was when rhe quiet urgings of rhe great clouds of sail gave way ro rhe strident and discordam bang of sreel on steel. Ir was in rhar irreversible momem rhar we wem from living in harmony wirh the earth ro gobbling up its capital. Ir was rhe beginning of rhe Industrial Revolution in rhe oceans which, in rhe subsequent brief span of rwo generations, ravaged our piscine resources so deeply rhar many species are already gone and others are struggling ro survive. Ir was also a momem when rhe fisherman, as an individual, became obsolete. When the soul-satisfying rug ar rhe end of a thin line was replaced by New Ways on Quero Bank, (1981, Oil on panel, 26 x 36 inches) rhe ruthless sack of rhe oceans by sreamThe schooner Annie M. Parker, Launched in 1901, is depicted sharing the powered draggers who scraped rhe sea fishing grounds in 1906 with the steel screw steamer Spray, built in 1905 Boor clean with orrer trawls. in Quincy, Massachusetts. Spray fished with an otter trawl. As we jolted from rhe ninereemh ro rhe rwemierh cemury, side by side on rhe most terrifying fishing grounds in rhe world, rhe last of of circling gulls, has already filled irs holds and is off for home ro rhe great fishing schooners competed wirh the first of rhe steam- catch rhe early high marker price. Two lone figures man the deck powered vessels, which rook an our of rhe gleaning of fish and of rhe steamer, compared ro rhe numerous crew of the schooner. The rwo are ar rest, labors completed, wages earned, in pleasurable amiciparion of a restful rrip home while rhe dorymen labor on. Hoyne painted this scene in rhe dark and gloomy colors rhar reBecr rhe quiet resignation of rhe dorymen ro their fare. A mericuluous researcher of rhe hisrory of his subject, he concrerized rhe very momem rhar seamen were forced ro join an irreversible challenge ro rhe balances of life on rhe eanh itself. Tom Hoyne was one of those peculiarly fonunare men whose life, as he knew ir, was abrupdy canceled with a death semence by cancer. In mid-life, after a successful career as an illusrraror for rhe advertising communiry, Hoyne was diagnosed with an inoperable cancer and given rwo years ro live. 'Nothing so concemrares rhe mind as rhe rhrear of death,' and Hoyne, balancing his life's work against a foresh ortened future, put aside rhe 'roys of his childhood.' At char momem he dedicated rhe resr of Thomas Hoyne (1924-1989) his life ro winkling our from rhe fog of hisrory rhe great fishing replaced ir with rhe blind and ab usive power of industry. Ir was schooners rhar worked rhe terrible waters of rhe cold, foggy, and this inseam that Tom Hoyne caught with stunning impact in his ofren srormy seas of rhe Grand Banks. A srubborn man, Hoyne refused ro die in the rwo years allotpaiming New Wtiys on Quero Bank. In ir, a handliner fishing from his smal l dory comemplares rhe steel behemoth which will soon ted and, perversely, lived for sevenreen more. Ulrimately, and persupplam his way of life. H e stands immobile, caught in a poi- haps more perversely, he died of something else. In rhar brief span gnant momem in which he sees his future, or rhe lack of ir, in of rime he produced a hundred paimings-demanding works rhe steam vessel heading for home. Scattered around his mother conceived, researched, and executed ar rhe rare of one every rwo schooner work rhe other dories ofhandliners returning with their momhs. From rhe day his cancer ended his former life, Hoyne, catches. The steam trawler, fully laden as evidenced by rhe cloud obsessively and with huge energy, made his cencury of paimings.
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SEA HISTORY 112, AUTUMN 2005