Dawn Light, SEA CLOUD Off Corsica

oil on canvas, 22” x 30”

$17,500

Today, the four-masted Barque SEA CLOUD is known to many as a luxury sailing cruise ship accommodating only 64 passengers - but not many know her fascinating history. She was built as a personal yacht in 1938 by Majorie Merriweather Post, who built Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida between 1924-1927, now the winter home of President Donald J. Trump; and her husband G.F. Hutton. Post divorced Hutton and married Diplomat Joseph E. Davis (U.S. Ambassador of Russia). Together they leased her, now named ‘SEA CLOUD,” to the U.S. Coast Guard as a weather ship during World War! She sailed with a crew of 173 men aboard until 1946.

In 1955 Post sold the ship to the President of the Dominican Republic Rafeal Trujllo, who renamed her ANGELITA in 1961. Trujillo was assassinated and ‘SEA CLOUD’ was renamed and sold again. She sat unused in Panama until 1979 when she was towed back to Kiel, Germany, to the original shipyard where she was built for an extensive refit. Today she sails the Mediterranean as part of the tours run by National Geographic.

Geoff’s terrific portrait shows her making way under full sail as the sun rises over a sparkling Mediterranean sea.

The artist’s inspiration in his own words: “I painted this from my own very warm memories because I was lucky enough to have three trips aboard her as a guest speaker. The itinerary was always the same, Western Mediterranean themed talks around Patrick O'Brian's novels, and the naval history of the area. SEA CLOUD only takes 50 or so guests so it was pretty exclusive.”