Ken Marschall's Art of Titanic

[Jan C. Nielsen]

I acquired this book today. At the beginning, it quotes Walter Lord's statement that Titanic "has never been with us more than now." Nevertheless, this $54.00 book was on sale for $7.50. It has many beautiful illustrations of the Titanic, and even some other ships - - not all of the Titanic pictures are the same as the ones in "Illustrated History." In the Acknowledgments at the end Marschall discloses that his mother told him, years ago, "you know, honey, you can't paint Titanics your whole life. You're going to have to get a real job."

 

[Richard A. Krebes]

This book sure is the ulitmate work on Ken Marschall and his art. It's just PACKED with stuff on him and his marvelous works.
Yet...I only persued it at the bookstore a few times, and I did not buy it.
Why? Well:
it all but had a recorded message in it that screamed at you "See the movie! We just want your money!!", for references to that film were EVERYWHERE in it. I mean, you couldn't go far before having something in the text refer to the film. A DISGUSTING excess if you ask me.
Maybe the King Of Deluded Fruitcakes Annoymous had something to do with that stuff (he wrote the Foreword to the book, after all), or it was there for some other reason, but on a whole that aspect of the book turned me off to it...
Whoops. There I go again yammering about something related to a topic I'm trying to quit chiming in on as it is pointless to deabate the sematics of that shopworn, tired, and muddy subject when there's oh so much else to discuss.
Final note, though: it pains me to pick on a book which otherwise has alot to offer, but I'm not going to muzzle my complete views on such a work for fear of disagreement on some of them.
On a lighter note, I'm not that bad when it comes to books which have ties to films: I snapped up the compainon book to "Saving Private Ryan" one- -two-three when it went on sale in the Military Book Club.

Richard K.

 

[Mike Herbold]

Richard:
Don't let your personal hang-ups about Cameron's movie ruin your life. Or were you having a delayed reaction about the Vikings first loss?
The Marschall book is very worthwhile, and Cameron's forward is just a thank you for the expert historical advice that Don Lynch and Ken Marschall provided in making the movie. Marschall is an incredible artist and has a knack for bringing many ships, not just the Titanic, to life. Wait till it goes on sale and go back and buy it.

 

[Richard A. Krebes]

Thank you for the advice, Mike H.
No, I was not at all having a delayed reaction to the first Vikings loss!
I don't care much for organized sports, anyway. Why, I didn't even know our illustrious (yawn!) football team lost a game recently until you told me, Mike.

Richard K.

 

[Maureen Zottoli]

Art is something that I enjoy very much and I know the hard work that goes into any piece of art. My father is a professional illustrator/artist and although 77 has at least 65 years of professional work experience behind him.

I own the book and feel that one of the things that I found most interesting in the book was the intense work of detail for the background scenes that Marschall did for Titanic and other movies. This in my mind did not detract from the book only to build up the movie, it is a book about his art work and the movie contained some fairly awesome artwork by Ken.

My dream is to one day meet this man and to see his work, especially what he did with the Cameron film. That to me would be fascinating!

I treasure my book and I am sorry others can not see the value in it.
Maureen.

 

[Jan C. Nielsen]

Now, for some real Titanic art, here's my daughter's drawing, from when she was six years old:

 

[Jan C. Nielsen]

I experienced some difficulty with posting. The drawing is larger than 20 kilobytes, so I cut it down quite a bit. The full picture can be viewed under "Children's Art" at the San Francisco Titanica website:

communities.msn.com/jshomispictures

 

[Jan C. Nielsen]

This is my last try. Otherwise, I give up.

 

[Maureen Zottoli]

Jan,
That is actually very good for six years old. It actually would be good for an 8 or 10 year old. Frame it and display it! That is how children learn that their art is of value and they go on to do bigger and better things!

Bet if you asked Mr Marschall...that his interest was fanned by his parents.

Maureen.
PS-Great photos of the California get together.

 

[Jan C. Nielsen]

Thanks Maureen, for the nice comments. Regarding parents fanning interests, believe it or not, Marschall says in his book that his mother wanted him to get a "real job" and quit drawing Titanics all the time.

My daughter seems to have a broader interest, beyond ships. In fact, she does mostly drawings of people. We've managed to get her into advanced art classes. Take care.

 

[Maureen Zottoli]

I received a private email message acknowledging what you say of Marschall as being true and I remembered that as I own that book. But I am glad that you embrace your daughter's interests in art. One day when I get a digital camera I will send you a photo of some of my daughters art.

Maureen.

 

[Tracy Smith]

I just got this book at a discount bookstore....hardcover for twelve dollars! I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

Does anyone know if Marschall ever painted the Californian? A painting of the Californian and the Carpathia together, as the Californian arrives at the scene would make an interesting painting, I think.

 

[Eric Sauder]

Hi, Tracy:

No, Ken hasn't painted the Californian. He's done two of the Carpathia, one Mauretania, one Normandie, three Andrea Doria, one Queen Mary, one Queen Elizabeth, one Empress of Ireland, two Olympic, three Britannic, numerous Lusitania, and (if I recall the name correctly) a City of Rome.

He has also done a number of Hindenburg and the battleship Bismarck as well as other non-ship-related subjects. I think that's all.

Oh, yeah, and one or two of Titanic.

Eric Sauder

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Tracy,

Since Ken didn't paint Californian, maybe I won't step on his toes if I mention that the very scene you suggest was painted by a San Diego artist, Richard DeRossett, whose paintings adorn the San Diego Maritime Museum. When I last checked, that painting was on sale at Maidhof Brothers Shipware Merchants for about $3000. The other painting of his at Maidhof's shows the Queen Mary and Normandie passing one another alongside the Statue of Liberty, with the Hindenburg flying overhead. The URL for Maidhof Bros. is www.seajunk.com, but the paintings are not listed on the website...to see them, you would have to visit the store here in San Diego.

Parks

P.S. Ken Marschall rules, but DeRossett is a respectable second, in my opinion.

 

[Tracy Smith]

Thanks, Eric and Parks.

Parks, I'd love to see the DeRossett painting, but I can't imagine I'll go to San Diego any time in the near future, and I couldn't afford to pay 3 grand for the painting. Perhaps they'll catalogue his stuff and show it online, which would be nice.

Eric, hopefully Ken will one day do a painting that includes the Californian. Would be nice if he did