Painter of a lost art
The 22ft James Caird is decks-awash as a Southern Ocean roller thunders down. On her foredeck, two men in early 20th century clothing struggle to douse the jib. The sea is steely blue – the cold-colour water of high latitudes. The brush strokes of Sean Garwood breathe chill into every detail.
Sean knows the brutality of the Southern Ocean. He was at sea for 25 years on deep sea fishing boats, from 1979 to 2004, when he came ashore to release the artist within.
A trip to Antarctica produced his 2017 exhibition, Sean Garwood’s Antarctica, and a book of the same name. The exhibition was an oil painter’s observations that included the desolate, domestic world of Shackleton’s hut, Scott’s Terra Nova Hut and Discovery Hut, and the items and enhance the paintings.
