Marine Art News

摘要

In August, the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) acquired two historic oil-on-canvas paintings-Ship Spermo Trying with Boats among Whales on California, 1821 (right) and Spermo Cutting in Whales on Japan, 1822 (below), painted by Nantucket whaler-artist John Fisher. The Nantucket whaler Spermo sailed on its sole whaling voyage from 1820 to 1823, in consort with the General Jackson and the Pacific. The captain of the General Jackson, John Fisher, a whaling master and self-taught artist, created six known canvases during this voyage, some of the earliest known oil paintings depicting American whaling. Both paintings are 18" × 24" canvases and depict Spermo cutting in whales on the Japan groundsrnand whaling off the California coast. Created by a seasoned whaling master with an eye for detail, these scenes rank among the most vigorous depictions of whaling before the invention of photography.