Full Wind in the Sails, by Geoffrey Holt (1882-1977)

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These magnificent ships, or carracks, depicted here in full sail were the heavy-duty workhorses of early 16th-century Spanish expeditions. Hernán … Read more These magnificent ships, or carracks, depicted here in full sail were the heavy-duty workhorses of early 16th-century Spanish expeditions. Hernán Cortés used such ships to travel to Mexico. During the Age of Sail, these ships could carry ample cargo and provisions, as well as canons, enabling long transoceanic voyages. Columbus’ Santa Maria was such a ship.
This romanticized historic marine painting, with heavy impasto technique emphasizing the turbulent sea, was done by Geoffrey Holt (1882-1977). Born in England in 1882, Geoffrey Holt studied art in London and Paris. He subsequently arrived in the United States, at first living and working as an interior designer in Minneapolis. By 1921, he was in San Francisco and then moved south to Los Angeles in the 1930s, There he became known for his landscape and still-life paintings described at the time as being in the “manner of the English School,” although the subjects were often inspired by Western and California scenes—even this one, sailing out of history. Eventually, he settled in Long Beach where he lived until his death in 1977. See less