USS West Virginia Painting Competition

What is Military Painting?

Military art is a term describing works of art on military themes. The genre of military art is characterized by its subject matter rather than by any specific style or material used. The battle scene is one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, as rulers have always been keen to celebrate their victories and intimidate potential opponents. The depiction of other aspects of warfare, especially the suffering of casualties and civilians, has taken much longer to develop. As well as portraits of military figures, depictions of anonymous soldiers away from the battlefield have been very common; since the introduction of military uniforms such works often concentrate on showing the variety of these. Naval scenes are very common, and battle scenes and "ship portraits" are mostly considered as a branch of marine art; the development of other large types of military equipment such as warplanes and tanks has led to new types of work portraying these, either in action or at rest. In 20th century wars official war artists were retained to depict the military in action; despite artists now being very close to the action the battle scene is mostly left to popular graphic media and the cinema. The term war art is sometimes used, mostly in relation to 20th century military art made during wartime.

Diego Valezquez 1635, The Surrender of Breda

Hendrick Vroom, Dutch Ships Ramming Spanish Galleys off the Flemish Coast in October ,1602

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The Death of Major Peirson, 1784, by John Singleton Copley

Sanctuary — Edward IV and Lancastrian Fugitives at Tewkesbury Abbey by Richard Burchett, UK, 1867. This was an incident during the War of the Roses

!Scotland Forever! by Elizabeth Thompson depicting the start of the charge by the Royal Scots Greys at the Battle of Waterloo, 1881

Title “Battle of Roberts Ridge” Oil on Canvas by Air Force Artist Todd Krasovetz, 24 x 36”

Official Military Artists

'ALL AMERICAN FIRES’, by Stuart Brown, 20” x 16”

Naval Military Paintings

Oil painting made by Australian Randall K.G. Wilson depicting the Bismarck made fast to a buoy in Gothenhafen, May 1941.

Oil painting made by Artist Marii Chernev depicting the Bismarck and the U-556 in the Baltic Sea in the spring of 1941. Cruiser Prinz Eugen is in the far back.

The original painting has a size of about 30 x 24 inches.

The Bismarck opens fire, by Krzysztof Grzywacz, 1978

Karanecki, 2001

Karanecki 2002

USS West Virginia Painting Competition Assignment VIDEO

WVU Chicago Metro Alumni Chapter, by jury, will choose one painting of the USS West Virginia by a WVU painting student. There are 3 cash prizes. All of the work will be shown at the Erickson Alumni Canter. The jury and exhibition will occur at a date TBD in May 2015. You are to paint a representational ‘military’ style work no larger than 24 inches wide or tall. A suggested size is 24 inches wide by 20 inches tall. You may paint the first USS West Virginia (before Pearl Harbour) or the reconstruction, (after pearl Harbour). Please have sketches ready by next class for approval before commencing the painting. Please refer to the lecture and also do your own research by finding images you think would translate nicely into a painting.

!The USS West Virginia was badly damaged at Pearl Harbor, but rose from that disaster to take revenge on the Japanese navy.!

The battleship was christened on November 19, 1921, the second ship to be named for West Virginia. On December 1, 1923, the West Virginia joined the fleet. The new battleship was 624 feet long, 94 feet wide, and had a displacement of 33,590 tons. The main battery was eight 16-inch guns in four turrets, with 12 five-inch guns as the secondary battery. Oil-fired boilers provided steam for the electrical propulsion system, which was capable of moving the ship at a maximum speed of 21 knots.!

Except for training exercises in the Caribbean and visits to East Coast ports, the ship spent its entire career in the Pacific Ocean. It was one of the six battleships at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941, suffering massive damage from torpedoes and bombs in the surprise attack. Two officers (including Capt. Mervyn S. Bennion) and 103 crew members died.!

The West Virginia was raised from the mud of Pearl Harbor and rebuilt in time to see service for the last year of the war. The ship went back to sea in July 1944 and joined the Seventh Fleet for the invasion of the Philippines. At the battle of Surigao Strait on October 24–25, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf, West Virginia led the line and was the first American ship to open fire. The West Virginia was in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, for the surrender ceremony, the only Pearl Harbor survivor present.!

After the war the West Virginia took part in ‘‘Operation Magic Carpet,’’ the return of troops to the United States. It was decommissioned in January 1947, then held in inactive reserve until stricken from the Navy List on March 1, 1959. On August 24 the battleship was sold for scrap.!

The current USS West Virginia is an Ohio Class Trident ballistic missile submarine. The West Virginia is 560 feet long, 42 feet wide, and displaces 18,750 tons when submerged. Its nuclear power plant can move the submarine at more than 20 knots. As a missile submarine, the West Virginia’s main weapons are its 24 Trident II missiles. Four torpedo tubes were also installed on the vessel. Fifteen officers and 140 enlisted personnel make up the crew.!

The ship was constructed by the General Dynamics Electric Boat Division at Groton, Connecticut, and launched in 1989. Commissioning took place on October 20, 1990.

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