Patrick O'Brien

Guardians of the Empire

2023

The famed whaling ship, Essex, on a roiling and stormy sea. The Essex is arguably the most famous Nantucket whaling ship in history. The Essex was a su...

Signed verso American, b. 1986 Adam Umbach was born in Chicago, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. After being inspired from an early age by the modern masters co...

Unframed Dimensions: 30 x 40 in. Framed Dimensions: 35 1/2 x 45 1/2 in. Signed lower left The painting depicts Nat Herreshoff’s great racing schooner Ingomar racing the schooner Elmina off Great Captain Island during the Larchmont Race week 1907 at her helm is the redoubtable Charlie Barr the successful skipper of three Americas’s Cup campaigns. Ingomar was built of the wealthy financier Morton F Plant and was the first of Nat Herreshoff’s 9 great steel hulled racing schooners which included, Queen, Westward, Elena and others. She was built alongside Reliance in 1903 and joined her on the New York Yacht Clubs annual cruise of that year as Reliance tunned up to Defend the America’s Cup against Shamrock 111. In 1904 with Capt Charlie Barr at the helm and a crew of veterans from Reliance she crossed the Atlantic to race the cream of the British yachting fleet at Cowes before crossing to compete in the German regattas at Keil where with Capt Barr at the helm she famously forced the German Kaiser racing on his schooner Meteor...

Nicholas Berger Biography American, b. 1949 In his more than three decades as an artist, Nicholas Berger (b. 1949) has created an outstanding body of work that continues to evolve and excite viewers. Best known for his industrial, waterfront scenes of New York between 1930-1970, Berger effortlessly captures a period when the technology and landscape of the city was rapidly changing. Although he paints scenes of a bygone era, Berger draws inspiration from the waterfronts near his home in New York’s Hudson River Highlands as well as historical sources in museums. Berger holds BFA and MFA degrees from Alfred University. Earlier in his career, the artist painted representational landscapes rendered in watercolor, a medium in which he achieved great success, sharing a sellout two-person show in Tokyo with Andrew Wyeth. In the mid-2000s, Berger transitioned to his signature industrial scenes of the city, employing oil on panel in a painterly manner influenced by the Hudson River and Brandywine schools...

Duncan McFarlane. This excellent ship portraitist began his life's work in Liverpool. It is believed that he later sailed to America and was employe...

Medium: Acrylic on Board Dimensions: 16.75" x 25.00" Signature: Signed Upper Left

The most important maritime center in the 19th century, Liverpool, had many advantages. Located on the England-facing west coast of the Irish Sea, the Mersey approach was wide, deep and actively associated with all aspects of shipping. It also faced northwest, as the distressed fleet in Witham's work has discovered on a stormy February 8, 1881. To the rescue of the 12 ships, the Pilot Schooner No.2, LEADER, signals the fleet to follow, using the pre-1900 commercial code signals "l w c". She has waited for the rising tide and keeps the line tight to the red starboard buoy, Q1, which marks the beginning of the Queen's Channel. Within a span of hours, all twelve ships were led successfully to their docks. Witham painted the scene in conjunction with the great acclaim the Pilots received in 1881, and it became so popular that he painted additional works marking the event over time. His local contemporary, Samuel Walters...

In the 1880s, Eldred traveled through Europe and briefly studied at the Académie Julian in Paris before returning to Massachusetts to paint New England’s dramatic seascapes and coast...