Warren W. Sheppard (1858 - 1937)
Oil on canvas, signed lower left "Warren Sheppard". This highly dramatic painting depicts three sailing vessels on a similar tack sailing towards the left in a dramatic sunset. At the center, the sun is going down and there are streams of light reflecting in the ocean leading from the horizon to the base of the painting. There are several sun rays shooting up the sky amongst the colorfully lit clouds. Sheppard painted many pictures in the style of the former American luminous painters like Fitz Henry Lane, William Bradford and James E. Buttersworth. Of the many Sheppard luminous paintings we have examined, this is by far the most dramatic and beautiful. (PA1064)
Condition: The painting was cleaned a few years ago and lined. It is in excellent condition and their is only the slightest bit of of small dots of restoration. The painting is on its original strectcher and has a appropriate gold leaf frame.
Dimensions of Painting: Height 18, Width 28 1/4 inches.
Dimensions of Frame: Height 26, Width 36 inches.
Biography: Warren Sheppard, was an American marine painter, born in Greenwich, New Jersey on April 10, 1858. He lived most of his life in the New York/New Jersey area, spending summers in New Hampshire, painting seascapes off Isles of Shoals. He learned the art of marine painting under the Dutch maritime artist Mauritz Frederick Hendrick de Haas, who had moved to America, settling in New York in 1858, the same year that Sheppard was born. Although he worked closely with the master, Sheppard was able to develop an original style, and maintain his own views on the portrayal of nature. In the 1890's Sheppard painted a group of Venetian scenes. Recording the architecture along the Grand Canal, Sheppard painted many private villas, betraying the oriental influences on the architecture of the original plans of this unusual city. From 1880 to 1899, he exhibited at the National Academy of Design were he showed many paintings, among them Moon Rise on the Ocean, which commanded $1,500 in 1896. Sheppard was not only a talented marine painter, but he was also known for his expertise as a racing yachts designer and navigator. He died on February 23, 1937.
