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DEREK G. M. GARDNER | Sunrise: The Glory of the Seas in St George's Channel
24" x 36" / 61cms x 91cms
Oil on canvas
Glory of the Seas is notable for being Donald McKay’s last Clipper, and end of an era noted even by contemporaries, with its construction photographed (see second image). Of particular interest is the fact that he was her original owner, a testament to how successful McKay had become by the end of his career. One might assume the ship held some sentimental value to the great engineer.
Perhaps Glory of the Seas most famous run is the record time of 35 days that she set on the passage between San Francisco and Sydney in 1875. Although as a medium Clipper she was not McKay’s fastest vessel, she was hugely successful in terms of her longevity in a period where these types of ships routinely finished their careers at the bottom of the sea, a consequence of their sacrificing stability for speed. Glory ran goods on the Pacific coast, between California and Alaska, until 1906 and was then converted into a barge until finally being scrapped in 1923. Her figurehead can still be found in the private collection of India House, the New York club.
It should be noted that the date of her construction and launch, 1869, is a watershed date for Clippers generally. With the opening of the Suez Canal in that year effectively ending the British ‘Tea Races’, and the transition to steam in full swing, 1869 is widely considered the end of the age of the Clipper. Consequently, it seems particularly fitting that it was in this year that McKay decided to design his final model.
Gardner is widely considered to be the leading British maritime painter of the 20th century.
Entirely self-taught, he became a master of his art with an unmatched skill for conveying the colour, luminosity and atmosphere of the maritime setting.
During World War II, he served with the Royal Navy on armed trawlers and destroyers in the North Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1988 the Royal Society of Marine Artists elected Gardner as their honorary vice-president for life.
In 2005, as part of celebration of the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar an exhibition of his work featuring a painting of every ship in which Nelson served, was presented in London.
His work is included in several marine art texts and held in public collections including the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
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