On a painted ocean

On a Painted Ocean - Art of the Seven Seas, is a book that boldly sets forth for our consideration, enjoyment and edification more than 150 maritime images that take the reader on a cultural and philosophical voyage that circumnavigates the globe. The images in this remarkable volume comprise a subjective choice of marine art selected from world culture. In it, we find the terrible beauty of storms, the stark horror of war, the exotic interplay in ports of call, the efficiency and interdependence of ocean commerce, the cornucopia of the sea's bounty and the spirit of challenge, adventure, achievement and innovation that characterizes humankind's relationship with the sea through the ages. From the artifacts of the past to the abstractions of the present, the book includes some stirringly familiar masterpieces, and it also showcases lesser-known and often-dazzling works that broaden our notion of the maritime genre. There are images that memorialize events, and objects from the mundane to the esoteric such as an ancient Greek bowl, an illustration from a classic sea novel, tapestries, maps, illuminated manuscripts, advertising ephemera and even a birth certificate. On a Painted Ocean is bound together as an unfolding whole by Peter Neill's short, compelling essays. These tracts are both philosophical and poetic, affecting in their beauty and insight.