This is an early dramatic depiction of the men, some of their vessels and a dog, onboard one of the great Nova Scotian Schooners, from the days before such a profession held much glamour. Her working crew shown topside and in a boat on the water, and these hard working and hearty men always commanded a dose of respect, but few were envious of the effort they expended and the dangers they daily faced. One such schooner, the famous BLUENOSE came to be the nautical identity of an entire country and its people. Built in 1921 from day one to be a racing schooner that was capable of working the fishing banks of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, her owners, designers and captains always had an eye on a certain prize: The International Fishermen’s Trophy.

In what may only be classified as a large and early painting by Jack L. Gray, he has put the emphasis directly on his homage to the men working the ships, both in the labor on deck and the peril of the small boat in the open oceans. The artist has such a unique touch with his brushwork presentation that anyone who knew these men may well recognize them from this portrayal, and Gray himself later both knew and worked alongside such men. The ocean is surging and ominous, with a thick broad palette and impasto. Once the acclaim of the Racing Grand Banks Schooners was in fashion, Gray saw fit to honor their predecessors.

Serenity found within the rolling surf, Jean Mannheim sat above the Irvine Cove of Laguna Beach and painted this oil on canvasboard on the spot. A small sailboat cuts the blue Pacific, and numerous shades of sand and stone inhabit the coastal cliffs with the last vestiges of the summer foliage headed toward autumn, with a slight offshore breeze topping the whitewater. An award-winning artist who painted portraits and still life works as well, the landscape scenes of California are for what Mannheim is best known, and this is one of the most colorful we’ve ever seen.

Coastal Laguna Beach had only recently been established as a premier artistic residence of California with its emerging colony of names that are today well known. Mannheim’s early participation exposed him to styles and techniques more than his strict educational paths had, and he flourished in the sunlight of California. Here he worked the soft blends of inspired color and light into a perfect composition that shows the truth, avoiding distortion of facts exhibited by some Impressionist artists. This is a very colorful beach scene by an artist capable of diverse and unique works of art.

A beautiful day presented by American luminous artist William Trost Richards, one in which everything is going right. For a painting to be universally considered a top work, it must hold a broad appeal, yet possess an unquantifiable sense of originality and perfection. Undeniably, this is a superior coastal seascape. Richards has painted a captivating seascape abundant with true marine color. The cool shore line glistens, with translucent light cutting through the face of the small waves. The reflective light is of such accomplishment that the visual images stirs firsthand remembrances of the sounds and sensations from our individual memories of the seashore.

The dramatic devices of the horizon-holding small sailboat, and the beach remains of a less fortunate boat are a conceptual idea that Richards shares with many of the best 19TH Century American marine artists, including A.T. Bricher and F.A. Silva. What is so outstandingly unique is Richards’ touch in this specific instance to illuminate the heavens in such an intricately detailed and layered manner. The sun’s focal draw is perfectly balanced yet unobtrusive. The clouds have movement and depth, and the overall sensation of a cool wet day along the coast is well understood. Richards in his later career painted almost exclusively seascapes, and exhibited many of them within the annual exhibits of the National Academy of Design, where he was elected a full member in 1871. This is a beautiful seascape in an unusual and desirable vertical format by this recognized master.

Payne’s colorful Impressionist views of the small fishing villages of Concarneau and Douarnenez on the Brittany Coast were some of his personal favorites. This view is unique in its depiction of a crowded quay (an abundance of figures is rare in the majority of Payne's work), with fishermen offloading the days’ catch as evening approaches.

The artist’s use of broad brush strokes, always using bristle rather than sable brushes, and skill with a palette knife give his works a subtle distinction and structure that is recognized worldwide. His unique coloration was accomplished through the technique of adding dark colors to his mixed colors, rarely using paint directly from the tube.

This composition is a fine example of Payne's vision of everyday simplicity and marine activity in these small European backwaters. They capture a more romantic time and records it with soft poetic beauty that continues to attract collectors of this icon of American painters.

The net fishermen of Rockport, in an array of a lobster boat, yawls of colorful hues and a seaworthy white rowed boat, work aboard their crafts in the chill morning light. Local onlookers fill the scene, and the conversations over coffee would drift from fishing to social affair and politics back to fishing. The work becomes of blend of the things Thieme is known for artistically; his professional handling of light and shadow, strong natural coloration and great impasto application of his oil to canvas.

Silent and serene, the water holds on to Thieme’s special ability to portray wet reflections and the soft tidal sensation of slow movement in the harbor. No power boat wake pushing through the soft light that mutes the distance across the harbor, as the sea birds glide above. Most heads are down, looking at the tasks at hand, or just keeping a close eye on the others.

Thieme’s wife, Becky, once wrote of her husband “he often says that he was born 50 years to late”. Thieme longed for simpler times amid the march of progress. He worked relentlessly at his art, and became one of the premier, internationally recognized members of the Cape Ann and Rockport schools of art. He owned a reputation for establishing friendly relationships with locals and visitors alike, but would tolerate no interruptions while working at a canvas. Here, just across from “Motif #1”, the pier-side Red Building that appears in many Cape Ann paintings, as significant to Rockport as Thieme himself is today.

A serene and beautiful view of the untouched magnificence of early Hawaii, this painting by Strong featured the environmental purity of the islands more than a century ago. Rising over the scene, the universally recognized shape of Diamond Head Crater is rugged and unpopulated, only the smallest output of human buildings in view at its coastal shore, which by this time included a half-century old whaling station. Blue, clean and pristine, the Hawaiian man begins to launch his outrigger vessel into the surf.

Works of Hawaii by Western artists do not get any rarer than a scene of 1884 in Honolulu. Strong was directly commissioned to paint such works for the Spreckels Sugar and Shipping interests in part to promote the islands, and this particular work found its way to a Connecticut Estate, most likely as a family gift to one of his father’s relative back home. It was discovered in a New Haven basement when a house recently sold.

The sense of flora and open wilderness beneath soft sunshine makes this a pleasant and highly desired depiction of Hawaii as originally encountered.