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Artwork of the Week

Artwork of the Week: August 18, 2019

Edward Moran, Shipwrecked, oil on canvas, c. 1877

Edward Moran (1829-1901),

Shipwrecked, c.1877, oil on canvas, 30 x 50 1/2 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art.

Shipwreck scenes were popular in nineteenth-century America, and Edward Moran, born August 19, 1829, was regarded as one of the best maritime painters of his day. This dramatic image of a broken mast bobbing in dark water, with a lighthouse standing not far distant, connotes a tragic end that would have appealed to the imagination of viewers. The dramatic setting manifests Moran’s technical skill in rendering the churning black to yellow ocean waves and the billowing storm clouds.