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Jim Griffiths
A Change in the Weather, British Tea Clipper Spindrift, July 18, 1867

$4,500List Price

About the Item

This painting shows British Tea Clipper Spindrift running hard under strong winds with the threat of bad weather astern. The Spindrift was launched July 18, 1867. She was built by Charles Connell of Glasgow for owner James Findlay of Greenock and was considered to be the builder's finest clipper. An extremely sharp-bodied ship with exceedingly fine lines, she was somewhat longer than the other clippers in the tea trade, but with a large sail area she was almost the equal of ARIEL, one of the fastest clippers. The drawback to her sharpness was she had a small cargo capacity, but owner Findlayt gambled that the higher freight rates needed to offset costs would not be an issue if her speed was great. Findlay wanted a fast ship because he wanted to win the 'Blue Riband of the Sea', the prize for being the fastest ship home from the Orient with the first cargo of tea. Many of the clippers had short lives, but of the extremely sharp ships, Spindrift had one of the shortest being wrecked on the start of her third voyage. Her maiden voyage in 1867 was 108 days London to Shanghai. The run back to London with tea was a spirited race between Ariel, Taeping, Lancelot and Spindrift. Although Ariel docked first, the Riband went to Spindrift for actual sailing time as Spindrift left 25 hours after Ariel and was only 6 hours behind her into Gravesend. The actual time being 96 days, 21 hours. Her second voyage from Shanghai in 1868 took 105 days as her captain took her home the long Eastern route. In 1869 she was lost near Dungeness, one day out from London, on her way to Shanghai. When we first saw the extraordinary watercolors of Jim Griffiths, we were instantly impressed, as have been the many collectors lucky enough to acquire his work over the last few years. Our admiration continues to grow for Griffiths' work as a watercolorist, so deft as a draftsman, meticulous as a researcher, and sophisticated as a colorist. Griffiths' career began during high school where he spent summers in classes at the Chicago Art Institute and the American Academy of Art. After graduating from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1969, he furthered his studies, graduating from the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design with a degree in illustration. He then went to work for an industrial arts studio where, after a short period of time his interest and desire to devote himself entirely to painting ships and the sea took over. Fortunately, he has been pursuing marine art exclusively since then. A special area of interest for him are post-1940 steel naval vessels. It is perhaps in these that the full range of his tremendous talents can be appreciated for the absolute precision detail in combination with convincing color and light, which Griffiths handles on a par with the finest marine watercolorists of any era. To ensure the authenticity and accuracy of all of his work, he refers regularly to a large library of nautical books, photographs and ship plans that he has amassed over the years. He is a member of the American Society of Marine Artists, and in 1989 was commissioned to paint the Official Portrait of the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN-72). He has also done a series of nautical paintings for the Revel/Monogram Co. There is no question in our minds that he has earned his position as one of the world's premier marine watercolorists whose work will be featured among the important maritime museum collectors in the years ahead. In 2000, he was commissioned by the United States Postal Service to paint four paintings which were issued as postage stamps commemorating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Submarine Service collections of tomorrow. Jim won the prestigious Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award at the 2003 Mystic International Marine Art Exhibition. The award recognizes the one work in the show that "best documents our maritime heritage, past or present, for generations of the future." In 2007, Jim won the Best of Show Award at the 14th Annual Maritime Exhibition at the Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay, Oregon. In 2014, Jim was honored with a One-Man Show at The United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. His paintings are represented in many corporate collections among them are: Kraftco Corporations Glenview, Illinois, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, PA; Schiele-Faierson Co., Chicago, Illinois, Global Cash Management, Lake Forest, Illinois Ebasco Services, Inc., Houston, Texas .

Creator:
Jim Griffiths (1947)
Dimensions:
Height: 12.5 in (31.75 cm)Width: 19 in (48.26 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Medium:
Gouache
Period:
2010-
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Stonington, CT
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU94814445001

Materials

Gouache

Édouard Righetti (1924-2001)
Original French Mid Century Colourful Landscape, French Bridge, 1950's

$758

H 19.5 in W 25.5 in D 1 in

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Jim Griffiths
A Change in the Weather, British Tea Clipper Spindrift, July 18, 1867

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