PROVENANCE -
bought by the current owner from the artist,
c.1987.
Private collection, U.K.
Towards the finish of that
memorable 1851 race, Queen Victoria ? aboard her yacht Victoria & Albert (I)
? turned to her signal-master and asked if the yachts were in sight. When
told that they were, the Queen enquired "Which is first?" "The America"
replied the signal-master, to which the Queen responded "Which is second?" "Ah,
Your Majesty, there is no second" came the reply, an astonishingly prescient
remark soon to become part of the folklore surrounding what is arguably the
world's greatest sporting legend, a legend born the moment America
crossed the line on 22nd August 1851. The winner's trophy which was
subsequently taken back to the New York Yacht Club was, at that stage, known
simply as the 'Hundred Guinea Cup' and it resided, unchallenged, in its new
home for fully nineteen years before the first Englishman ? Mr. James Ashbury ?
tried to win it back. After his two unsuccessful attempts in 1870 and 1871,
successive challenges became a regular feature of the world's yachting calendar
and the series of races themselves quickly became known as 'the America's
Cup'.
As for America herself, she was sold after her legendary
victory in 1851 and remained in British waters, under various owners, until 1861
when she became first a Confederate blockade runner and then a Union blockade
enforcer. After the American Civil War she became a school ship for U.S.
midshipmen and was even refitted by the U.S. Navy to compete in the first
America's Cup defence races in 1870. Sold to General Benjamin Butler in 1873,
he lavishly refurbished her and thereafter she raced competitively until 1901.
Eventually presented to the U.S. Naval Academy, she was destroyed in 1942 when
the roof of her boathouse collapsed onto her under the weight of heavy
snow.
NOTE MYSTIC SEAPORT :
America, is from
The Great Yacht series. The print portrays America winning the 1851 Hundred
Guineas Cup, later to be known as the America's Cup. Tim Thompson is a self-
taught painter and one of the few young marine artists utilizing traditional oil
techniques. By placing layer upon layer of translucent wash on canvas, Thompson
is able to produce a luminosity that is rarely seen in contemporary marine
paintings. Displaying an elegance and sophistication reminiscent of works by the
19th century masters of marine art, his works are widely collected by marine art
connoisseurs around the world.
Lithograph, printed on 230 gram
artboard, signed by the artist.
Image size: 22" x 16" Overall sheet size: 28"
x 24"
NOTES AMERICA-SCOOP :