Robert Dodd

Napoleonic War Battle of Pulo Aura

Circa 1804

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...

In this atmospheric Maine harbor view, the grey tone of the fog enveloping the sea and sky lend an air of realism to a striking composition. Granite and green are the colors of the Maine Coast...

A stalwart American ship clearing the Delaware headed for Honolulu with a load of coal, this broadside ship portrait by Alexander Charles Stuart is of the Ship GATHERER. In her maiden year of service, the Bath, Maine-built Downeaster went to New Orleans with hay, took a load of cotton from there to Liverpool, and crossed to collect the coal in Philadelphia before heading to Hawaii. She'd make 8 Cape Horn voyages, averaging about 129 days, a profitable and fast sailing Downeaster, and yet still record one of the bloodiest voyages in merchant maritime history. In this portrait, A.C. Stuart shows the large wooden vessel...

Frederick Waugh was a prolific seascape artist who generated 2,500 paintings of the sea and shore. Although it was never published, he penned a ten chapter book on marine painting. S...

Bay Area School figurative of a cowboy and hats by Berkeley artist Patricia Gren Hayes (American, b- 1932), circa 1983. Signed "Gren Hayes 1983" upper center and signed and titled "Cowboy Boots" on verso. Unframed. Size: 16"H x 20"W. Bay Area Figurative...

Ekaterina Ermilkina’s original, abstract fine art paintings are created using a skillful combination of applying and removing oil paint with a palette knife on canvas. Her inspiratio...

Provenance: Fabien Fryns FIne Art Van De Weghe Fine Art

Johann Wilhelm Lindlar (German, 1816-1896), Alpine Lake Landscape Scene, Oil on Canvas, 19th century, depicting people boating on a lake with the snow-covered Alps beyond, signed "J....