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Gordon Bauwens range
of Ocean Liners and Clyde steamers in maritime art prints. Gordon Bauwens
ocean liners collection available from Cranston Fine Arts.
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QE2 - Transatlantic Arrival by Gordon Bauwens.
Few waterfronts in the world are as instantly recognisable and admired as New York. Cunard first used the port in 1847 and its vast liners became almost as much a part of the Citys image as its famous skyline thereafter. Transatlantic legends bearing immortal names such as Lusitania, Mauretania, Aquitania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth all graced this famous waterfront. And now, having already sailed well over four million miles since her own maiden arrival, QE2 still proudly bears the Cunard insignia into New York harbour, looking more majestic with each passing year. The magnificent liner is enjoying a traditional fireboat welcome while being met by Moran tugs. Manhattans twin towers and the distant Statue of Liberty shimmer in the early evening sun as overhead, Concorde banks to give her passengers a glimpse of the spectacular panorama below. It is apt that his fine portrait of the last Clyde-built Cunarder is by an artist whose charted her growth from steel skeleton into elegant ocean greyhound, culminating in her launch viewed from across the Clyde in 1967. He was received by QE2s captain when presenting the liner with a framed print for her 25th Anniversary in 1994, the original painting having been purchased by the Chairman of Cunard.
Signed limited edition of 1150 prints. Image size 21 inches x 14.5 inches (53cm x 37cm). Price £70.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0009
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River Portraits, the Liner Sylvania by Gordon Bauwens.
Cunard added four new liners to their passenger fleet during the 1950s. All were built by John Brown & Co Ltd, Clydebank, for the St Lawrence route to Quebec City and Montreal, Canada. Fourth in this quartet of sisterships, which included Saxonia, Ivernia and Carinthia, Sylvania was also the last ever Cunarder designed exclusively for North Atlantic trade. Launched in November 1956, she entered service the following summer with Liverpool and Greenock her UK ports. Sylvania maintained a reliable and regular service on her Canadian route until 1961 before transferring to the New York run as replacement for the ex-White Star motorship, Britannic. In 1965 she began a new role in Mediterranean cruising, initially sailing from Liverpool then Gibraltar. Two years later she emerged from a refit with white hull and her own hovercraft. As with her sisters, Sylvanias primary transatlantic career had been all too quickly overtaken by jet air travel, inevitably leading to her sale by Cunard in 1968. However, her useful life was far from over. As the Albatros, she was still operating in the Bahamas at the time of writing.
Signed limited edition of 850 prints. Image size 21 inches x 15 inches (53cm x 38cm). Price £70.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0008
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Her Majestys Royal Yacht Britannia by Gordon Bauwens.
The order to build a Royal Yacht as replacement for the obsolete Victoria and Albert was placed in February 1952 with John Brown & Co Ltd. The Clydebank yard won this contract largely because of its experience in building the prestigious Cunard Queens and Caronia. Launched in April 1953 by Her Majesty the Queen, Britannia was the most modern in a long line of Royal Yachts dating back to King Charles IIs Mary, 1660. Britannia was designed as a dual function vessel - as a Royal Yacht in peacetime an as hospital ship in times of hostility. Although built under post war austerity conditions, she provided a classical, well-balanced profile, with meticulous attention paid to detail. Features included innovative funnel design, bulbous bow, stabilisers, superstructure tested in a wind tunnel, and the steel hull rivetted than machined flush above the waterline to give an immaculate finish. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh took personal interest in the interior design, choosing for the Royal apartments simple decor incorporating white painted walls, mahogany and brass. Exquisite furnishings and objet dart provided embellishment, with many items retained from previous Royal vessels. Throughout Britannias 43 year active life, her appearance remained flawless, inside and out, despite having steamed well over 1 million miles. In service Britannia became a fitting symbol of Britains proud maritime heritage, and in retirement, will continue as a showcase for British shipbuilding at its best. The painting shows Britannia with the Forth Rail Bridge in the background.
Signed limited edition of 850 prints. Image size 13 inches x 9.5 inches (33cm x 24cm). Price £70.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0007
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Aquitania - The Ship Beautiful by Gordon Bauwens.
December 1909 saw Cunards directors authorise a new liner to operate in union with Mauretania and Lusitania, offering a three-ship weekly transatlantic express service - a long held Company dream. Among the details, they specified that the new vessel should be constructed of the very best materials, finished complete in a first class style of workmanship to the entire satisfaction of the owners. In Aquitania, John Browns Clydebank shipyard surpassed Cunards criteria by creating what many have described as the most beautiful four funnelled liner ever built. Known throughout most of her long and successful career as the Ship Beautiful, she was in a class of her own. The combination of almost perfect external proportions along with spectacular interiors, endeared her to all. Sea going manners were equally impeccable with her captain on the maiden voyage exclaiming, her steadiness and lack of vibration are phenomenal.
During Aquitanias career of almost 36 years, she carried a total of 1.2 million passengers over 3 million miles and crossed the Atlantic 442 times and served faithfully throughout the two world wars as troop carrier and hospital ship. The worlds last surviving four funnelled liners life was further extended as a post-war immigrant ship before finally sailing to the breakers in February 1950. Dignified and incredibly beautiful to the end, her demise saddened thousands whose lives she had touched across the years. The painting shows Aquitania on builders trials in May 1914, in the background PS Glen Sannox en route from Arran to Ardrossan sets course to pass astern of Aquitania and a southbound trading brig.
Signed limited edition of 650 prints. Image size 21 inches x 14.5 inches (53cm x 37cm). Price £70.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0006
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RMS Titanic - A Day to Remember by Gordon Bauwens.
Second in the trio of superliners planned to eclipse their competition on the lucrative north Atlantic route, Titanic was launched from Harland & Wolffs Belfast shipyard on 31st My 1911. Timed to coincide with her sister ship Olympics departure, White Star achieved the desired publicity with around 100,000 witnessing the grand occasion. Designed for luxury rather than speed, Titanic cost around £1.5 million, and was undoubtedly one of the most elegant liners built during the golden era of sea travel. Postponed for 24 hours due to high winds, her builders trials took place on 2 April 1912. Tugs arrived around 6am to ease the massive hulk through the Victorian Channel and out to Belfast Lough where Titanic could proceed for the first time under her own power. Signal burgee A hoisted, the liner then underwent rigorous and carefully measured tests within the Lough until, in the early afternoon, she turned her bow towards the open Irish Sea for running trials. Steaming south for two hours brought Titanic within view of County Downs Mourne Mountains and lighthouse of St Johns Point. Here the vessel carried out a broad 180 degree turn before heading back to Belfast to receive her Board of Trade passenger certificate, good for one year from today, 2-4-1912. Shortly after 8pm, Titanic finally left for Southampton and, in darkness, bade farewell to the coastline she would never sea again.
Signed limited edition of 850 prints. Image size 21 inches x 14.5 inches (53cm x 37cm). Price £70.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0005
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RMS Queen Mary - The Legend Begins by Gordon Bauwens.
The magnificent new Cunarder bids farewell to her birthplace - John Browns shipyard, Clydebank 24th March 1936.
Signed limited edition of 850 prints. Image size 21 inches x 14 inches (53cm x 36cm). Price £70.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0001
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RMS Queen Elizabeth - Fit for a Queen by Gordon Bauwens.
In 1946 the daunting task of restoring Queen Elizabeth from grey troop carrier into the stateliest of liners was shared between the Clyde and Southampton. Cunard allowed John Brown & Co, the Elizabeths builders, just 10 weeks to transform the vessels structure as she lay at anchor at the Tail othe Bank. The most striking aspect of this work, as the liners drab wartime coat was chipped away, was how in stages from bow to stern, she gradually emerged in gleaming Cunard colours. This phase completed, the vessel returned to Southampton to be refitted with her original furnishings and for dry docking. Setting out for Scotland once more, Commodore Bisset learned that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth and Margaret Rose would join the revitalised vessel on the Clyde for her trials on October 8. On one run over the measured mile off Arran the Queen, invited by the Commodore, took the wheel while her two daughters recorded the time taken with stop watches. Then, her speed trials over, the ship headed back to the Tail othe Bank where the steamer Queen Mary II would take the Royal Party back to Greenocks Princes Pier. En Route, as the sleek Cunarder cleared the sweeping bend between Gourock and Strone, the early evening sun highlighted her shining new paintwork. Framed by the autumn tinted hills, she shared the moment with PS Jupiter and the little Clyde puffer, Ardfern.
Signed limited edition of 750 prints. Image size 23 inches x 16 inches (58cm x 41cm). Price £70.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0002
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SS Sir Walter Scott by Gordon Bauwens.
The handsome steamship, Sir Walter Scott, which sails Loch Katrine in the Trossachs, is named after the author who highlighted the area in his poem of 1810, The Lady of the Lake. Since then, this tranquil wooded loch mirroring the majestic mountain Ben Venue at its easterly end, has been popular with visitors from all over the world. Cruising on SS Sir Walter Scott provides the perfect opportunity for visitors to share the authors passion for this scenic jewel in the heart of Scotland. When she entered service in 1900, this elegant little steamer - measuring 110 feet by 19 feet beam and weighing 110 tons - was not particularly unusual, with many inland lochs offering similar pleasure sailings. Sir Walter Scott began life at William Denny & Brothers in Dumbarton, but was not launched from the shipyard. She was taken instead in knocked-down form by barge up Loch Lomond, then overland by horse-drawn carts to Loch Katrine for re-assembly. Now, she is unique as the only surviving screw-steamer in regular passenger service in Scotland, her sleek hull still powered by the original triple-expansion steam engine. As Loch Katrine is also Glasgow Citys water supply, every effort was taken in her design to minimise pollution. Indeed, it is for this reason she still operates as a solid-fuel burning steamer while most comparable vessels have converted to diesel propulsion. To sail on board the Sir Walter Scott with the dramatic visual backdrop slowly unfolding, the gentle rhythms of the almost-silent steam engine and soft lapping water, makes for an enchanting experience few ever forget.
Signed open edition. Image size 13 inches x 9.5 inches (33cm x 24cm). Price £22.00
ITEM CODE GBQ0010
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