Desperate Voyage

(Cover Art for the non-fiction novel by John Caldwell, published in 1949)

gouache, 19 1/2” x 14"

$10,500

It's the end of WWII (May, 1946), the author is stranded in the United States, and he wants to return to his wife in Australia. So he buys a 27-foot cutter and sets sail across the Pacific. He survives 8,500 miles of variable seas, reefs, tropic islands, crossing the equator, languishing in the doldrums, and thrashing through hurricane seas - all single-handed.

This painting appears in the book (plate #12) The Marine Paintings of Carl G. Evers (NY: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1975). The description reads, “Cover for book by John Caldwell, Ballantine Book edition (artist’s collection).” Ian Ballantine wrote the introduction to “The Marine Paintings of Carl G. Evers,” and published this edition of the book “Desperate Voyage (image below).