- Gerard Richardson
Gerard Richardson (1910-1971) was an American painter and designer. He was born in
New York City .Gerard Richardson has been recognized as one of the most important
naval artists of the twentieth century. [cite book |title=Who's Who in American Art|last=Bowker (editor)|publisher=R R Bowker Publishing|location=New York|date=1973] He generally signed his oil paintings in upper case letters "GERARD RICHARDSON", usually in red, on the lower right hand corner with a year date.Fact|date=September 2007His famous painting, "Heavenly Mist", is a rendering of the sinking of
John F. Kennedy 's PT Boat 109 by the JapaneseDestroyer ,Amagiri . The painting was a favorite of the President's and remained in theWhite House until the assassination of President Kennedy. Currently the work is in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. [cite web|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset+Tree/Asset+Viewers/Image+Asset+Viewer.htm?guid=%7B4EE337D0-0F76-49C1-B04C-2239762B2DBD%7D&type=Image | title ="Heavenly Mist" | accessdate=2007-09-27]Career
Richardson was a Commander, later Captain, in the
US Navy duringWorld War II .Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center, 805 Kidder Breese SE, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC 20374-5060.] He was married to Alicia Richardson. They had no children. He mostly did original paintings on a commission basis.Fact|date=September 2007 There are few signed prints ever authorized by him, but as the official U S Navy Artist during World War II he did thousands of unsigned prints ofnaval ship s during World War II for the sailors who served aboard them. The originals of these ships reside in theU S Navy Museum ..Fact|date=September 2007 Richardson did several largemural s in theWashington D.C. area where he and his wife lived after World War II. Only onewatercolor is known to have been done by him, a painting of the four-masted Spanish training ship, Juan Sebastián Elcano, known as El Cano, which is in a private collection, Allen Autry Sr Family collection, exhibited at askart.com.Collections
The
Syracuse University Library has a special collection of his papers and copies of some of his art works. Many of his paintings of ships and naval battles reside in theU.S. Navy Museum .References
External links
* [http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset+Tree/Asset+Viewers/Image+Asset+Viewer.htm?guid=%7B4EE337D0-0F76-49C1-B04C-2239762B2DBD%7D&type=Image Image of painting "Heavenly Mist" in the JFK Library] .
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