Joseph Witham

Follow the Leader

Dated 1897

Sought by collectors worldwide, art and artifacts showing an early western presence in the Orient boomed with the opening of the China Trade by way of the sailing ship. The surviving paintings which capture the important Chinese harbors...

This attractive portrait features the five-masted schooner ELINOR H. at full sail in an active sea. The ship has crisp lines and a sharp sense of detail, likely because it was painte...

An interesting homage to the issue of rank amongst the crews and officers of all vessels, a captain is carried to his ready command by one of his subordinates through the ocean surf ...

Thomas Birch is considered one of the earliest American Marine painters of importance both in his own time and historically, forming the foundation of what would become a great American Maritime movement in the successive years of the 19th century. Born in England, Birch started as a landscape painter but after the War of 1812 he turned to marine subjects, taking inspiration from the best of both English and Dutch maritime traditions but refining these techniques into a very recognizable style all his own. The work featured here is a classic of Birch's later period, when he focused specifically on maritime subjects, mainly the busy waterways of Philadelphia Harbor. Here we see one of those scenes- a series of ships plying their trade, all framed by the city as it sits across the Delaware River, with the tall, white spire of what is either Independence Hall or Christ Church to the left of the main vessel. The details of the city are particularly good in this painting, with the wharf building to the left and the long line of buildings all along the shore. The American Merchant Bark at the center of this painting is rendered in excellent detail, from her house flag and pennant, to her rigging and sails, and down to her deck filled with the activity of crewmembers readying the ship to head out, her gilt billet...

An able sailor guides a fine sloop through the choppy waters of a busy American port in this work by Dutch-American artist Maurtiz DeHaas. Given the sailor's hat, what appears to be ...

This bright and serene scene of ships unloading off San Diego, California features a ship with a less than quiet history. The painting shows a typically bright and sunny Southern California day, the deep blue waters of San Diego providing the perfect backdrop for unloading crucial lumber for construction. The painting has Thimgan's eye for detail including the historic ship he's depicted, surely with a knowledge of her history, and his ability to so perfectly depict California's coastal landscape and surrounding waters. Some ships of legend get their reputations not for speed or daring rescues, but for the amount of chaos which happens onboard. Sailors, being generally a superstitious lot, could spread a ship's reputation like wildfire. As with the supposedly haunted places on land, the odd instances become larger tales whispered over strong drink in port or at worst, printed in bold newspaper headlines. The best crews don't want to serve aboard such vessels, so only the most hardened men sign on. Tempers flare and conditions deteriorate. Over time a ship gains the nickname of "hell ship" or "blood ship." This was the fate of the Bark HESPER. HESPER was purpose built in 1882 for the Pacific "Triangle Trade" - carrying lumber to Australia, coal to Hawaii and sugar to California, though she took on other cargoes in her career. The wooden bark of 603 tons was built by the Halls Brothers...

“Moving 5” is 60”x 48”. The vibrant yellow surface tones of this piece are broken in several places allowing random glimpses of Arnold’s dreamlike underpainting for a multi-dimension...

"A58" is 72” x 66”. The electric blues on black stand out from the figure on a mixed background of medium earth tones and heavy textures. Frank Arnold’s paintings exhibit the highest...

“OTL 8” is 60”x 60”. Central figure of Vibrant to deep reds on a split field of warm beige/coral and deep red/black. The foreground exhibits heavy strokes and Arnold’s “8” and “X” fi...

“BS Trust” is 36” x 36”. Frank Arnold’s paintings exhibit the highest quality materials for a truly archival piece, created to last generations. Much of Frank Arnold’s work is sourc...

“My Other Side” is 48”x 36”. This is an earlier piece by Arnold from the estate of a late collector of his work. This piece is predominantly shades of red from light to almost black....

"New Move 8" Oil on Canvas is a mix of blues and greens with chrome yellow accents. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculpto...