Product Description

Geoff Hunt is known to millions of readers across the world as the artist responsible for the covers of Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey-Maturin" novels, and more recently for those of Julian Stockwin's "Thomas Kydd" books. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the leading marine artists of his generation. More than a showcase of the versatility and creativity of his work, this book, written by the artist himself, also reveals its accuracy, through 5 key case studies that explain the initial inspirations, gathering of source material and often lengthy artistic progression that leads to the creation of a finished painting. The artist has selected over 150 paintings and sketches to illustrate his prolific career, painting techniques and influences, dividing them into sections on Nelson's Navy, "The American War of Independence", illustrating the naval writers and the Modern Maritime Scene, which includes recent commissions from the commercial sector and yachting community.This title covers the artist's inspirations, techniques, interpretations and primary research. It features over 150 paintings and sketches faithfully reproduced on high quality paper. It is suitable for Patrick O'Brian fans, as well as enthusiasts of marine art and history. It is presented with an introduction by art historian, David Cordingly.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53835 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Review
"'Geoff Hunt's pictures, perfectly accurate in period and details, but very far from merely representational, are often suffused with a light reminiscent of Canaletto' Patrick O'Brian '...his paintings, perhaps more than those of any other artist, have a compelling immediacy and sense of vitality, especially in his work of the great age of sail' Julian Stockwin"

About the Author
Geoff Hunt is President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. He currently exhibits with the Mall Galleries in London and Mystic Marine Gallery in Connecticut. His studio stands on the site of Admiral Lord Nelson's home in Merton Place, Wimbledon.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful collection of marine paintings

Geoff Hunt is one of the most talented marine artists since Montague Dawson. This book contains dozens of prints of his most beautiful paintings, which in many cases are complete with earlier versions from line drawings to colour sketches.

There are many descriptions of how the paintings came to be created, from who commissioned each one to the ideas the artist had about how to execute the commission and how he turned it real.

Most of the subjects concern warships of Nelson's era, though there are a few drawings and paintings of more modern warships or civilian ships. in particular, there are many paintings of the ships of the line in which Nelson served, many of them illustrating real incidents from Nelson's service career.

The book also contains a large number of paintings illustrating ships and scenes from the Jack Aubrey novels written by Patrick O'Brien. Indeed, many of the ships which appear in these novels were real historical vessels, and Hunt faithfully reproduced these ships in the book covers and other paintings included. In Hunt's words, "In most cases Patrick press-gangs real ships into his novels."

Geoff Hunt manages to make ships of the line and frigates from the era of fighting sail incredibly beautiful, but he also goes to some length to make his pictures realistic, even consulting the original logbooks of the ships concerned when he is trying to capture real historical events and feats of seamanship. He also consulted the original signal code books before painting the signal flags flown by his warships, so they spell out appropriate messages in the codes of the period.

If you are attracted to pictures of ships from the era of fighting sail, you will love this book.

A very good buy
Hunt is one of those artists that doesn't make the headlines because he doesn't pickle dead sheep or encase buildings in pink plastic. Few people will have ever heard of him. Like the others in his field (EG Roy Cross) he simply gets on with the job of turning out beautifully crafted and accurate paintings, the kind that can lift your spirits and leave you feeling good at the thought that such talent and old-fashioned dedication can still be found. The book is well worth the money if you love fine art and have even a vague interest in the sea and ships. There are plenty of colour plates and some fascinating insights into how the paintings came about.

On the other hand, if you prefer your art to look more like the daubings of a disturbed toddler then you really should look elsewhere.

The Marine Art of Geoff Hunt
Wonderful book narrated by the artist. Beautiful pictures
A must if you are interested in Marine Art