Maritime History in Art

The Library’s collection of books on maritime history in art only partially represented here.

If you do not see what you are looking for, please call the Library for more information at
310-548-7618 x 215.

Marine Art defined

One definition of Marine Art describes paintings, an art medium different than sculpture or film, etc., which is represented below in the Library Collections. Our selection in books shows painters who depicted ships, views of sailors, masters, crew, and objects of maritime significance primarily between the Victorian Era (1830s to 1900) through the 20th century. For a more complete abstract history of the art of portraying the sea and ships in pictures, see Peter Kemp, in the Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, 1976, page 521, who recounts: “… the earliest known pictures of ships and boats are those which decorate Egyptian pottery… around 3200 B.C.” and further that “… representations of the sea and ships appear in many paintings of the early Renaissance…” and, further, that “… the true birth of marine painting… occurred in Holland in the late 16th century.”. Later in his entry on Marine painting, on page 524, Kemp discloses, “… world wars of the 20th century produced a plethora of marine artists… a result of naval appointments of painters as official artists to record scenes of naval activity.”

Locating art in books

Remember that paintings of ships and maritime views may be found in many books that are not about art, but have used paintings as illustrations rather than photographs since photographs were not available at the time of printing. The Los Angeles Maritime Museum’s collections of paintings and other works of art may be consulted separately: please call the Museum for more information at 310-548-7618. Not all books on the subject of the marine art are included here; if you do not see what you are looking for, please call the Library at 310-54807618 x 215.

Types of books: Artists’ Monographs, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Artists’ Monographs

1. Antonio Jacobsen– the checklist : paintings and sketches by Antonio N.G. Jacobsen, 1850-1921 / compiled by Harold S. Sniffen.

2. American maritime paintings of John Stobart. / [by] John Stobart with Robert P. Davis, 1991.

3. Arthur Edwaine Beaumont, Naval Artist, 1890-1978. / Alison Barrett Beaumont, 1989.

4. Hulls and hulks in the tide of time : the life and work of John A. Noble. / by Erin Urban, 1993.

5. J. & J. Bard, picture painters. / by A.J. Peluso, 1977.

6. Joe Duncan Gleason rediscovering California’s marine art master. / De Chevrieux, Marcus, Curator. 2003

7. Naval battles of World War II 1939-1945; illustrated by naval artist Arthur E. Beaumont…/ compiled by Dean Beaumont, 1985,
c1977.

8. Stobart : the rediscovery of America’s maritime heritage / John Stobart with Robert P. Davis, 1985.

Dictionaries / Encyclopedias:

1. The decorative arts of the mariner. / by Gervis Frere-Cook, 1966.
2. A descriptive catalogue of the Marine Collection to be Found at India House. / India House, 1973.
3. Dictionary of marine artists. / by Dorothy E.R. Brewington, 1982.
4. Dictionary of sea painters / E.H.H. Archibald, 1989.