Regina Maris Ship, signed oil painting

Regina Maris, 1908 by Louis Letouche (French 1924-2015) oil painting on linen canvas, stretched over board framed Framed size: 16 x 19.25 inches Superb oil painting by the well listed French marine artist Louis Letouche (1924-2015). The painting portrays the 1900-1930 ship titled: Regina Maris. Regina was built to ply the Iceland-to-Baltic Sea codfish trade. The original wooden hull was completed in 1908, the 100th hull produced by the shipyard of J. Ring Anderson in Svendborg, Denmark. On 15 February 1920, Regina was discovered abandoned in the North Sea. Her crew was rescued by the Swedish steamer Fritiof. Regina was towed into IJmuiden, North Holland, Netherland by the Dutch fishing trawler Eendracht II. Regina at one time was believed to have been involved in the rescue of Danish Jews during World War II, but this was later disproven. Until 1963, the ship sailed under Norwegian colors and was called Regina, rigged as a three-masted topsail schooner. Following a severe fire in 1963, she was purchased by the Norwegian shipping magnates Siegfried and John Aage Wilson and converted to serve as the latter’s private yacht. Rebuilt with a very tall three-masted barquentine rig for this purpose, the ship was renamed Regina Maris (“Queen of the Sea”). Between 1963 and 1984, she was used in many television and movie productions, conducted two global circuits, and underwent stints as a cruise ship, sail training facility, and marine mammal research vessel. For a number of years Regina Maris was docked in Gloucester, Massachusetts and was in the possession of the Ocean Research and Education Society (ORES)a local non-profit organization. She was used for day sails and short voyages as scientists and students sampled copepods in the Gulf of Maine, observed whales and other marine mammals but mostly for the pleasure of the Captain. Volunteers could pay for acting as crew on short voyages and sampled life aboard an old wooden sailing vessel, including standing watch, sleeping in narrow bunks and climbing ratlines, the latter optional. When the organization ran out of money trying to keep Regina seaworthy it is believed that she was sold to Anthony Athanas of Boston’s Pier Four restaurant for use as a stationary party ship. One severely cold night with a loud crack she sank. Soon after she was purchased and raised by a group from Long Island that hoped to return her to seaworthy condition. The vessel was saved from being scuttled by Captain Robert Val Rosenbaum and moved from Boston. Massachusetts, to Greenport, New York, where Rosenbaum founded the Regina Maris Foundation and began a restoration process with 70 local volunteers in 1991. Hurricane Bob hit the east end of Long Island in August 1991, and Captain Rosenbaum scuttled the vessel at her berth to save her from being destroyed by the storm and to prevent the destruction of the nearby historic waterfront buildings. After the storm, the vessel was raised by Captain Rosenbaum and sold for one dollar to facilitate the restoration effort by a newly formed nonprofit organization. During the next eight years the corporation raised money through donations in Greenport to restore the vessel, but the funds were misappropriated and never found their way into the ship. The vessel was towed to Glen Cove, New York, in 1998 as part of a plan to revitalize the city′s waterfront.Plans to restore the ship were hampered by the discovery that she was not involved in rescuing Jewish refugees in World War II, as well as the economic impact of the September 11 attacks in 2001. The ship was chronically leaky and sank at the dock in 2002. Efforts to raise her in 2003 damaged her beyond repair. The deck, gunnels, deckhouse, bowsprit, masts, and rigging were preserved and set in concrete on the nearby esplanade. The painting is by the very talented French marine artist, Louis Letouche (1924-2015). The artist began painting passionately in 1958. Self taught, he turned to marine portraiture in which he excelled. Never seeking fame or the highlight, the artists work has been relatively unknown until now a couple of years after his death. We are very pleased to introduce you to his work, having acquired a number of marine portraits by this artist, all of which came from the artists estate. For the collector of maritime paintings and history, they offer a fascinating and unique insight into our maritime past – and for any marine themed interior, they make wonderful interior decoration. They offer potential as a single painting on the “den” wall, pairs hung either side of a fireplace or even whole sets grouped together to really make a powerful statement within a themed space. Condition report: The painting is in very good condition. If you will excuse the pun, we can “ship” this painting worldwide!