With the help of some invaluable research assistance, several hundred pages in articles have been amassed and are currently being skimmed for further leads.
Research is interesting. (No fooling, it really is.) Now a typo may sound like a minor thing, but it's opened up another avenue to travel. Allow me to discuss an article concerning a post-war renovation ...
Artwork on Moore-McCormack's Argentina (ex-Panama Pacific liner Pennsylvania, not her 1957 replacement) was attributed to Theodore Stanos. I believe they meant Theodoros Stamos.
Which leads to a lesson in too much is really too much. In a short bio, I read Stamos was the executor of (fellow abstract expressionist painter) Mark Rothko's estate. Rothko's family later accused Stamos of serious financial shenanigans. To settle the judgment levied against him, Stamos agreed to sign over his house to the Rothko estate. Interesting? Very. Relevant to what I'm working on? At this point, doubtful. In any case, the fact he was an abstract expressionist fits with the rest of the art on the Argentina, thus the Stanos referenced in the article is most likely Stamos.
Which is why I'm not sure if it's practical or feasible to include a mini-history of modern American art and do it justice. There is just so much to cover. I'm warming to the idea of some artist bios scattered throughout, but there are over 60 artisans (and counting) to choose from.
Switching gears a little to focus on actual artwork ...
Research is interesting. (No fooling, it really is.) Now a typo may sound like a minor thing, but it's opened up another avenue to travel. Allow me to discuss an article concerning a post-war renovation ...
Artwork on Moore-McCormack's Argentina (ex-Panama Pacific liner Pennsylvania, not her 1957 replacement) was attributed to Theodore Stanos. I believe they meant Theodoros Stamos.
Which leads to a lesson in too much is really too much. In a short bio, I read Stamos was the executor of (fellow abstract expressionist painter) Mark Rothko's estate. Rothko's family later accused Stamos of serious financial shenanigans. To settle the judgment levied against him, Stamos agreed to sign over his house to the Rothko estate. Interesting? Very. Relevant to what I'm working on? At this point, doubtful. In any case, the fact he was an abstract expressionist fits with the rest of the art on the Argentina, thus the Stanos referenced in the article is most likely Stamos.
Which is why I'm not sure if it's practical or feasible to include a mini-history of modern American art and do it justice. There is just so much to cover. I'm warming to the idea of some artist bios scattered throughout, but there are over 60 artisans (and counting) to choose from.
Switching gears a little to focus on actual artwork ...
The top portion of the photo shows the First Class Dining Room of the ss United States.
The center highlighted portion shows Gwen Lux's Expressions of Freedom statues carved
from foam glass to save on weight. I'm curious to know who did the other highlighted
decoration on the left. It's delightfully amorphic. The bottom if the First Class Ballroom
with Charles Gilbert's carved glass panels depicting sealife.
With the exception of the pieces from the ss United States, very few works of art from these ships remain. Thanks to a 1984 auction, just about everything from the United States wound up in private hands. The statues Gwen Lux created for the First Class Dining Room are in the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia, and several carved glass panels from the First Class Ballroom make up the decor in the SS United States Restaurant onboard Celebrity Cruises' Infinity.
The mural above the bar is similar to the one salvaged from the Texas Clipper
before she was sunk in 2007 to create an artifical reef. Saul Steinberg
created a mural for each of American Export Lines' "Four Aces."
In an extraordinary bit of luck, a mural by Saul Steinberg was saved as the USTS Texas Clipper, formerly American Export's Excambion, was being readied to end her days as an artificial reef off the coast of Texas.
To conclude, I will venture to guess as the bulk of America's post war liners changed hands, and as new owners imposed their decor, piece by piece, the original furnishings disappeared and may never be completely tracked down. Now I'm not about to promise an Indiana Jones-type search, but it would be neat if some of these works -- great examples of mid-century modern art -- were still hanging somewhere, their observers unaware of the heritage.
So is the S. S. United States artwork on the left the work of Gwen Lux?
ReplyDeleteYes, the work on the left is by Gwen Lux. On the sides of the "dome" just out of camera range were several groupings of state seals. Off to the sides on the main level were aquatic pieces. I think what's highlighted is a school of fish. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete