John A. Noble was a maritime artist who early in life served as a sailor aboard some of the largest wooden sailing ships ever built – the 4 and 5 masted schooners that carried bulk cargoes up and down the East and Gulf coasts well into the 1930's. Noble had a floating studio in the body of water between Bayonne, N.J. And Staten Island, N.Y., the Kill van Kull, where for decades he drew and painted activities in New York Harbor, especially the graveyard of the wooden schooners he loved in Port Johnson, Bayonne.
His lithographs have been collected in a book “Hulls and Hulks in the Tide of Time” by Erin Urban, and his powerful images will be a pleasure to look at for any one interested in the last of the wooden sailing schooners and harbor life. Each image is accompanied by an essay by Noble describing the inspiration and background for a particular drawing.
The book can be purchased from the museum dedicated to his life and work. The reproductions and the essays gave me a number of hours of reading and looking enjoyment. For me, it was money well spent.
His lithographs have been collected in a book “Hulls and Hulks in the Tide of Time” by Erin Urban, and his powerful images will be a pleasure to look at for any one interested in the last of the wooden sailing schooners and harbor life. Each image is accompanied by an essay by Noble describing the inspiration and background for a particular drawing.
The book can be purchased from the museum dedicated to his life and work. The reproductions and the essays gave me a number of hours of reading and looking enjoyment. For me, it was money well spent.
