Resorts at Sea: March

Last month, I mentioned I started downloading PDFs of the Pacific Marine Review. This month, I can report that I have finished. The fun part is now going through them and gleaning every scrap of information. Several thousand pages down, several thousand to go.

Earlier, I had found reference to six passenger/cargo ships for American President Lines introduced in 1940 and 1941 with artists selected through a contest held by the Maritime Commission and the Section of Fine Arts. Thanks to an article in the Review, I now have info on a competition to decorate four Moore-McCormack ships of similar design; mural winners receiving $1,120; $400 for sculptors. However, this latter group of ships was drafted into war service the minute they were launched. I have no idea if any winners were selected.

An illustration of the Rio Hudson-class of ships for Moore-McCormack Lines.

Because of World War II, they never saw commercial service.

I've wrestled with including these ships as they do not fall under the guidelines set. However, since this project is about art, and because of the Works Progress Administration nature of the contests, I believe not including them would be a huge oversight.