Robert Weiss
'Laupahoehoe Point'

Robert Weiss
'Fast Friends IV'

Robert Weiss
'Arctic Trio II'

Robert Weiss
'Mitsuo and Tsuruye'

Robert Weiss
'Under the Mango Tree'

Robert Weiss
'Pololu Valley Lookout'

Robert Weiss
'JFK'

Robert Weiss
'Constitution Tooth'

Robert Weiss
'John Paul Jones'

Robert Weiss
'The Bermuda Clipper'

Robert Weiss
'Arctic Trio'

 
Robert Weiss
'RANGER'

Scrimshaw was once the province of working whalemen at sea as a way to pass the time during voyages that could last five years or more. Today's scrimshanders are highly skilled and trained artists who have selected engraving on ivory as their chosen medium. This new breed of ivory artists uses both historical information and their imaginations to create highly complex works of art in a wide variety of subjects. Foremost among these is Robert Weiss who is regarded by many as the premier practitioner of this art form.

A native New Englander and graduate of Pratt Institute, Bob is one of only two marine artists to have won the prestigious Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award three times. The top award given each year at the Mystic International Marine Art Exhibition, it recognizes the one work in the show that “best documents our maritime heritage, past or present, for generations of the future.”

After college Bob pursued a career in commercial art in Manhattan. In 1985 a friend living on Nantucket island sent him a scrimshaw kit as a gift and this proved to be the major turning point in his career. He fell in love with the art form and after several more years of working by day as a graphic designer and nights practicing scrimshaw, he finally made the leap into marine art as a full-time career. Since then his unique approach to and appreciation for scrimshaw and its tradition have won him accolades from collectors, gallery directors and artists alike.

At the beginning of his scrimshaw career he began an intensive and continuing study of whaling ships, whales and whaling history. From 1993 through 1996, Bob attended daily drawing and painting classes at The Riley League of Artists in White Plains, New York, practicing the principles of Classical Realism. This experience gave him the picture making skills needed to push his scrimshaw to new levels. Whether it's the drama of a Nantucket sleigh ride, the gnarled visage of a whaling captain or the inquisitive expression of a walrus perched on arctic ice, Bob not only remains faithful to historical and natural detail, but captures the essence of his subject as well.

If one of these works strikes a chord with you, a similar piece can be done. Contact the gallery to receive more information on the pieces shown here or to discuss other ideas you may have for a highly collectable piece of scrimshaw, including family portraits.

East Hawaii Plein Air
Since moving to the island of Hawai’i (The Big Island) in 2006, Bob has been an ardent practitioner of Plein Air painting, the art of painting directly from nature 'in the open air’. Working alone and with The Plein Air Artists of Hawai’i Island (PAAOHI), Bob has focused on painting the varied and stunning beauty of East Hawai’i.

Robert Weiss
'Queequeg'

Robert Weiss
'Sir Ernest Shackleton'

Robert Weiss
'Disaster of 1871'

Robert Weiss
'Fast Friends III'

Robert Weiss
'The Scrimshanders'

Robert Weiss
'Sail Off Kolekole, HI'

Robert Weiss
'Mauna Kea Morning'

Robert Weiss
'Beautiful Big Island'


Robert Weiss
'Heading Home'

Robert Weiss
'Kalapana Coast'