In recognition of this day for remembering people who died in war, I offer my painting "Sinking of the Cumberland" from the American Civil War.
I painted the image for National Geographic after reading many first hand accounts of the Battle of Hampton Roads, studying ship plans, and sketching artifacts remaining from the event.
The original painting currently hangs at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, where it's on long-term loan.
Read about the making of the painting at the previous post Sinking of the Cumberland
The original painting currently hangs at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, where it's on long-term loan.
Read about the making of the painting at the previous post Sinking of the Cumberland
6 comments:
Beautiful painting. Reminds me of an early Whistler.
I stumbled across your site last week, and enjoyed it. Came back today and saw this amazing painting! Perfect for Memorial Day. Your skill and painting are truly amazing! Glad I found your site!
In Vicksburg there's a steamship called the U.S.S. Cairo that was excavated from the Yazoo river in the 60's. They have it set up outside a museum dedicated to it.
After sinking from hitting a mine the ship increasingly became buried in silt that preserved just about everything on board. There were even wine and medicine bottles with their contents still full.
They rebuilt bits of the ship so you're able to walk through the ship, and it's mesmerizing to see the construction details of it. How your ships looked in the painting reminded me of my visit to Vicksburg's Battlefield park.
Amazing! Simply amazing and powerful!
Thanks for posting this! I'm a huge ironclad fan and I've read about this battle numerous times. Still, it takes a beautiful painting like yours to bring to life the bravery and pathos of men fighting an impossible battle against a foe they can't hope to defeat.
I was just visiting with Christopher Leahy, current director of the Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas, former director of the Mariner's Museum in Newport. James, that is a masterful work of art. Thanks for my daily inspiration. I always check here before painting in the morning.
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