John Stobart

America's most celebrated marine artist, John Stobart emigrated to the United States from England in the 1960's. At a time when most maritime artists were creating scenes of ships and the sea, he became interested in recreating the great harbors of America during the glory days of sail. His work represents an unmatched collection of port scenes, depicting an important era in our maritime history. While he carefully researched his subjects in order to reconstruct a scene as accurately as possible, Stobart enhanced these powerful, historical scenes with lighting that creates a sense of season and time of day. Smokestack, spire, and cloud give definition to sky, and architecture is bathed in subtle tones of brick, wood and moonlight. It was Stobart's singular talent and devotion to continuing the great tradition of the art form that brought him to a place of preeminence in the world of maritime art. 

In the maritime art of the twentieth century, John Stobart was that marine artist - he had extraordinary skill, and his dedication and universality of his message rose above all others. Stobart single-handedly captured the spirit and brought back to life the golden age of American Commerce. Through his vision, we can sense once again what it must have been like to stroll the cobblestones along a busy wharf at dawn or marvel at the moonlight as it bathed the ships in the warmth of its special glow. For this, all who love the sea, all who love America are indebted to him for boldly recapturing and preserving forever the treasure of America's Heritage. His paintings have been the subject of two large format books: The Rediscovery of America's Maritime Heritage and The American Marine Paintings of John Stobart. His philosophy has been made available in two John Stobart's Worldscape television series - a total of 21 programs for Public Television stations around the country.