Pastel Painting of a War Ship

This is a pastel painting of a tall ship firing cannons at sunset. It is colorful, with interpretive, stylized elements and textures framing a more literal, modeled image of a ship.There are repeats of color with different textures and repeats of textures with different colors. The flattened swirls of blue clouds and pointillistic blue water contrast and bring focus to the off-center image of the ship. The shadows add an important touch of depth to the composition. The smoke from cannon fire is suggested by colorful swirls.

This painting was inspired by the Fauvists. Some examples are Andre Derain’s The Fishing Boats, 1905, Georges Braque’s The Yellow Seacoast, 1906, Albert Marquet's Fishing Boats, 1906, and Othon Friesz’s Port of Antwerp, 1906. Maurice de Vlaminck's Sailboats on the Seine, 1906, The Chatou Bridge, 1906 and Masions au bord de la Seine a Chatou, 1906 are more favorites.