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Tall Ships Suite; Full Sail Towards Eynhallow From Stromness

Artist: Demarco, Richard, HRSAPrinter: Peacock Printmakers

Tall Ships Suite; Full Sail Towards Eynhallow From Stromness

The present work was printed at Peacock Printmakers in Aberdeen and is from the Tall Ships Suite. In 1991 Aberdeen harbour hosted the first visit of…

The present work was printed at Peacock Printmakers in Aberdeen and is from the Tall Ships Suite.

In 1991 Aberdeen harbour hosted the first visit of the international Tall Ships for four days (4-8 August). The event returned in 1997 to even larger crowds.

Demarco was aboard one of the ships and recorded its subsequent journey to Calais.

The resultant suite of prints took just nine days to complete from cutting the stencils by hand to adding the colour, proofing and editioning.

Amongst the participating vessels and the one on which Demarco made the drawings for this suite, was the training ship Maria Assumpta. At the time she was the world's oldest wooden-hulled square-rigged brigate. Originally built in Badalona in Spain in 1858 she operated between Argentina and Spain transporting textiles, but later was used to transport both slaves and salt.

She was fitted with engines in the 1930s and renamed Pepita. In 1953 with her rigging further reduced she was renamed again, this time Ciudad de Inca, and by 1978 was operating without masts.

In 1980 she was saved from being broken up when she was purchased by the China Clipper Society and over the next 18 months was restored to her former tall ship status as a training ship.

As a result of litigation against her owners over the sinking with the loss of 19 lives of a sister ship, she spent 1984-88 effectively trapped in the Great Lakes, sinking in Kingston harbour in 1986 but refloated and restored.

In 1988 she was renamed again back to her original Maria Assumpta and ceased to be registered as a sail training ship although this status was short lived and by 1991 she was participating as such in the Tall Ships race.

Following a further refit she was wrecked attempting to enter Padstow harbour in Cornwall on 1985-05-30 with the loss of 3 of the 14 crew. The captain was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter and gross negligence and imprisoned.

The work is part of one of many projects involving Scottish artists working in collaboration with Peacock

© The Artist