Show Preview | Marine Artists Exhibition

Coos Bay, OR
Coos Art Museum, March 22-May 18

William P. Storck, Amistad, oil, 15 x 30.

William P. Storck, Amistad, oil, 15 x 30.

This story was featured in the March 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art March 2013 print issue, or get the Southwest Art March 2013 digital download now…Or better yet, just subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!

This month, the American Society of Marine Artists’ 15th National Exhibition travels from The Haggin Museum in Stockton, CA, to the Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay, OR, where it is on display from March 22 through May 18. The exhibition has been touring the country since October 2011 and features 122 works of painting, sculpture, and scrimshaw depicting everything from ships and seascapes to marine life and coastal scenes.

Christopher Blossom, The Down Easter Henry B. Hyde, Preparing to Anchor, San Francisco Bay, oil, 20 x 28.

Christopher Blossom, The Down Easter Henry B. Hyde, Preparing to Anchor, San Francisco Bay, oil, 20 x 28.

The selected works were juried from hundreds of entries from ASMA member artists—including Christopher Blossom, whose piece in the exhibit was inspired by an 18th-century vessel named the Henry B. Hyde. “The Henry B. Hyde was built for the Cape Horn trade to San Francisco,” Blossom says. “Although she set no records, her fast passages made her reputation, and she was a favorite among shippers.”

On the opposite coast, participating artist William Storck draws inspiration from the many schooners that visit the Chesapeake Bay each year. He prefers to paint “living” vessels that he can observe firsthand. Storck’s painting in the exhibit, titled AMISTAD, depicts several topsail schooners waiting for the wind on a placid evening in the lower Chesapeake.

Steve Henderson, Opalescent Sea, oil, 24 x 30.

Steve Henderson, Opalescent Sea, oil, 24 x 30.

One piece in the exhibit that does not feature any ships is Steve Henderson’s OPALESCENT SEA. “So often we describe the ocean as blue, but the living reality surpasses monochrome,” Henderson says. “When I stand in front of this painting, I find myself not only at the ocean, but in it—I hear the surf, am enveloped in the color spectrum, taste the salt, and feel the breeze on my face.”

The exhibition makes its final stop at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, MN. So far it has been getting rave reviews. “Every single museum [that has hosted the exhibition] has said it’s one of the most popular shows they’ve ever had,” says Russ Kramer, ASMA president and participating artist. Kramer believes the exhibition has been so successful because “people connect to marine art on a visceral level, and they’re drawn to it … and this is a rare opportunity to see so much great marine art in one place.” —Lindsay Mitchell

contact information
757.357.3785
www.americansocietyofmarineartists.com

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