Review: OCEAN LINERS. stunning art deco and modernism exhibition at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem

 A gorgeous Stanley Spencer.

OCEAN LINERS co-organized by the Peabody Essex Museum and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum closes October 9, 2017. The exhibition opens at the Victoria & Albert in February and continues through June 10, 2018.

There’s still time to catch one of the best shows of the year before it sails to London! Forget the theme and be ready to be continually swept off your feet by a who’s who of 20th century art and design, history, and one of a kind surprises (spoiler alert photographs of the installation below). Ocean Liners at the Peabody Essex Museum is high art with loans from important collections worldwide, well curated, and supremely installed. Its genesis stems from collector Stephen Lash and curators from the Peabody Essex Museum and London’s Victoria and Albert.

I was reminded of great design shows at MoMa and influential Modernism fairs during the 1980s at the Armory.

NEWS FLASH –  More than 1000 works of art from the collection of Stephen Lash, Peabody Essex Museum overseer, were gifted to the museum and announced this week through this exhibition. 

If you only have time for one work, make it the Spencer.

STANLEY SPENCER 
Riveters from the epic cycle Shipbuilding on the Clyde, 1941, in the collection of the Imperial War Museums, London. I have never seen one of these Spencers in person–what a surprise to find it here!

The photo above illustrates the left corner of the Spencer mural: it’s so vast you need to use a video to capture its mind boggling composition and entirety.

Spencer’s studies included field sketches unfurled on toilet paper–useful, cheap, and lengthy matrix:

Spotlighting in this post for artist, Morgan Faulds Pike:

The exhibition spotlights the FINEST EXTANT TITANIC CARVING FRAGMENT (arch at the threshold of the recital lounge), ca.1911, from the collection of Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax Nova Scotia Museum.

Jan Matulka from Norfolk Southern collection | David and Susan Goode:

There are many standouts in this exhibition

photographs September 2017 (click to enlarge and see descriptions)

Photographs/short video clips from my visit September 2017. Gloucester’s Zach Gorrell is a participating musician for the LIVE pianist performances. Alex Olsen playing when I was there.

Breathtaking corner vignette, exhibition pause, includes *gasp* wow poster and Winsor McCay silent film sinking of Lusitania  ” 25,000 drawings had to be made and photographed one at a time…” see film clips below

from the museum:

sponsors = “Fiduciary Trust Company is the lead sponsor and Eaton Vance Management is a major sponsor. The exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation provided generous support. The East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum provided additional support.”