Event this Sunday at Mariner Gallery

The original oil painting "The Sinking of the Cumberland" will be exhibited this weekend at Mariner Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island.

The sinking happened at 3:37 p.m. on March 8, 1862 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, when the USS Cumberland fell victim to the CSS Virginia, which went on the next day to battle with the USS Monitor.

The Virginia, or Merrimac, as it was known before it was converted into the slope-slided ironclad, delivered its fatal blow to the Cumberland with its 1,500-pound iron ram.

The 30x40" painting was commissioned by National Geographic and it was previously on long-term loan to the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia, which displays many original relics from the famous Civil War battle.

Below is a slightly earlier state of the paintings, before I added more explosions, smoke and the US flag, all at the request of my historical consultants, John Quarstein and Colan Ratliff. Those details are added in paint, not digitally. 

The flag figures prominently in historical accounts, as Captain Morris valiantly refused to strike the colors of the doomed ship and let her sink with the colors flying.

I'll be in Newport this weekend with an invitational plein-air group. We'll be painting mostly nautical subjects. 

I hope you'll come to the reception at Mariner Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island on Sunday, August 13 at 5:00-8:30pm. See the paintings and say hello.