Resorts at Sea: May: The Cost of Art

The 1980s was when the cruise line industry began replacing their older ships, some dating back to the 1950s. Today ships measure anywhere from 150,000 to over 200,000 gross tons. Can you imagine getting excited over a new ship that’s a mere 36,000 tons? Well, that was the size of Carnival’s Tropicale in 1982, arguably the first ship of the modern cruise industry.

These new ships had to be decorated, and whenever a new ship debuted, the phrase “million dollar art collection” was usually attached. But what did it take to decorate the ships in my Resorts at Sea study?

Early indicators found that when taking account for inflation and size of ship, the cost of art was comparable. However, as I'll explain later, I didn't factor in all the variables.

 

At left is a sketch by Bernard Perlin for one of the hall spandrels for President Hayes.

At right is an entry from Perlin for the Rio Hudson-class competition. (Images courtesy

of Bernard Perlin and Michael Schreiber.) Below is a page from the April 1941

issue of American Artist magazine with the Rio Hudson competition highlighted. 

The first numbers I got were courtesy of David Hendrickson. I had the results of the Section of Fine Arts competition for six ships of the President Jackson-class, he had the announcement. So like baseball cards, we traded. A total of $6,940 ($115,900 today) was allotted for each ship. Bernard Perlin won two commissions: hall spandrels and library mural for President Hayes for $3,150 ($52,590). While they furnished him with the marinite panels, he had to provide the paint plus whatever else he needed to do the job, so I'm not sure what he netted. There was a second ship art competition in the spring of 1941 for the four ships of the Rio Hudson-class, but money and interest was waning.

The second number came from Henry Dreyfuss' book Designing for People (1957). Dreyfuss wrote the art budget for Independence and Constitution was $100,000 each ($972,000).

I had delayed this post in order to recheck my math, but I found I wasn’t comparing apples to apples. Art collections on today’s cruise ships are a mix of newly created artwork and purchased art. By purchased art I mean works that have already been created and found at a gallery, or part of a corporate collection. Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity have amazing collections. Holland America recycles art from past ships, dating back to 1938’s Nieuw Amsterdam, plus new works, plus antiquities several centuries old. Celebrity has pieces of Olympic (Titanic’s sister), Normandie, and United States in specialty restaurants. So while the numbers give some indication, there's no real correlation.

Resorts at Sea: June 2012

The harvesting of artist info continues. With that brings avenues of exploration that I must not go down. Several of these artists, such as Willem de Kooning and Philip Guston dove head long into Abstract Expressionism after their WPA work on their respective ships, thus more info is available on these latter portions of their careers. (Fun to look at, the subject matter is, admittedly, not for the masses, and some of it would have looked quite freakish on board a ship. Case in point ... after showing her the exhibit catalogue for 12 Americans, my 92-year-old grandmother said it looked like children did it,  and not in the good way.)

There have been days where I swear I’ve come close to breaking Google. Or maybe it’s a warning to back off a little. But I have found more artist-ship connections. I also found a digital library with lots … nay … tons of Matson Line ephemera. When their Malolo debuted in 1927, a pamphlet listing the artists and their art was published. (Even the titles of the works were included!) Another one in 1957 described the works on the Mariposa and Monterey. Twelve new artists were added to the list with that pamphlet alone. Twelve. Yay!

Occasionally, the must have piece of ephemera becomes available. I’ve recently lost two auctions for this American Export Lines brochure that has color photos of the public spaces on board the Independence and Constitution. On the other hand, I didn’t know it existed, so I guess that’s some consolation. This piece contains the names of artists who decorated the Tourist Class dining rooms. The photo posted on eBay was a little blurry, but I think I have derived the names. However, without this piece, or any other evidence, my conclusion is mere conjecture.

But I made up for it -- a little -- with a 1948 deck plan for Moore-McCormack's Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Until now, I've had only a partial list of public spaces, and only the faintest idea as to their layouts.

Resorts at Sea - April 2012

Right now, the count of artists who contributed to the décor of the ships covered in this project is at 124. Now trying to find info on all of them … Well, let’s just say there are days I’d rather have emergency root canal.

It’s as if some of these people never existed. Yes, there’s the briefest of mentions in a Marine Engineering article, but that is it. My first stop was Wikipedia, and the results weren’t too bad, not overwhelming, but it was a start. Google is offering some roads to travel, and the weekend before last, I found where preliminary sketches by Lyonel Feininger for a dining room mural on American Export’s Constitution (1951) were on display last month. (Note to self: work on not audibly gasping in public places when you find such things. It’s embarrassing for everyone involved.) Needless to say, I’m stunned these sketches have survived. And if there are sketches, there may be related correspondence. Fingers crossed.

 One exhibition catalogue, and one semi-autobiography.

I’m guessing the best sources for biographical information are going to be exhibition catalogues. At first I had hoped to interlibrary loan these pushing 60-year-old paperbacks. Nope, too fragile; can’t risk shipping it twice within the state. Ok. So, I’m shopping around, and when the price is right, I’ll pull the trigger on one or two at a time. A little slow going, but I am starting to get some contextual background on these people, not to mention a nice little collection of vintage catalogues.

In addition to the Feininger sketches, this neat item … A 1948 MOMA press release announcing the display of three of the four murals Loren MacIver did for American Export’s new 4 Aces in 1948. (There wasn’t room for the fourth one in the gallery used.) I’m hoping to find pics.

Won't you let me take you on a sea cruise? (updated)

*Update (9 January)*

The addition of public rooms on the President Cleveland and President Wilson, and status of the history project.

While packing to leave Missouri and then Iowa to head out to Colorado, I procrastinated a little by thumbing through my ocean liner collection. The collection began with postcards then moved to brochures and deck plans. And while I have a little from just about every major steamship line in Europe, I've been focusing on American companies.

American steamship lines really came into their own after World War II before succumbing to jet travel in the mid-1960s. This time period (1946-1965) also encompasses the Golden Age of Advertising. (Mad Men alert!) Mid-century design really appeals to me. The clean lines and bold colors are timeless.

Anyway, I began to notice trends in design; the designs of the printed materials and the external and internal architecture of the ships.

The above plan of the Delta trio shows part of the rounded superstructure. Notice how the cabins follow the curve. These ships were built in 1946, and this kind of cabin arrangement wouldn't be seen again until P&O's Canberra in 1960.

American President Lines started building a similar trio in the early 1950s. The same architect designed these ships as well as the Delta trio, hence the similarities, especially the rounded superstructure. Sadly, with the Korean War, these President liners were appropriated for the Navy and never saw commercial service. One thing I found interesting is the balcony for the main lounge. I think just about every balcony I've seen on a ship runs fore to aft, with the center open to below. This is the first one where the opening looks to the port side (or any side for that matter).
A popular pair on the Mediterranean were American Export Lines' Independence and Constitution (which would see service for American Hawaii Cruises in the 1980s). This a drawing of the Boat'n Bottle Bar. I really like the lines on the deck radiating from the bar. The interiors of these ships were designed by Henry Dreyfuss. If you don't know the name, you know the products. Remember the round Honeywell thermostats? The Twentieth Century Limited (as highlighted in North by Northwest)? The AT&T desk and wall phones from the 1960s? Those and many, many other everyday items came from his drawing boards.

Perhaps my favorite ocean liner is the United States. I could talk for days about her, and no, sadly, that's not a metaphor. Built in 1952, she took 12 hours off the Queen Mary's best time across the Atlantic. She was so speedy, she could run in reverse faster than most of today's cruise ships can go forward. In my mind, she was the epitome of Mid-century Modern. The top rendering is the First Class Dining Room, the bottom, the First Class Restaurant.

I'm hoping to gather more information on these and other ships to illustrate this side of American design. I've no idea of a timeline. I've been collecting since junior high, so who knows?

Status Update

Apologies for the quality of the following images. They're from a 50+ year old American President brochure for President Cleveland and President Wilson. When you're folded up for most of that time, you don't unfold very well. (Plus my scanner is still in Iowa.)

The first image is of the typical First Class Lanai Suite. There's a little bit of an Asian influence, especially with the window screens. The bottom shows the First Class Main Lounge and Smoking Room. Both are quite contemporary in design.

I've also come across several more designers and artists involved with post-war refurbishments (of pre-war ships) and the new post-war liners. The scale and scope of this project leaning towards more of a treatise than a simple look back. Now a treatise does not scare me. Yes, it makes me pause, but "the game is on."

At this point, I think I've gleaned everything I can from The New York Times. I will need to go back into the periodical indexes to explore the works of these new people. Archives will need to be culled, once I locate them, as some of these companies no longer exist. Color images will come at a premium, but a 1949 article from Fortune shows so many possibilities!

Interestingly enough, eBay has become a resource with its ocean liner memorabilia listings. And if I cannot afford the prices, I can at the very least cut and paste the images as they'll serve as a departure point for further research.