A British-born New Zealand artist has combined his love for ships with his interest in Cape Ann to try to give a boost to Gloucester's World War II Memorial in Kent Circle.
Peter "Spike" Wademan, an award-winning illustrator and artist, donated a portrait of a famous American battleship, the USS Missouri, as a way to benefit Gloucester's World War II Memorial in a raffle that is now under way.
Wademan has connections to Cape Ann through both longtime friends and a local art gallery, while the USS Missouri — the battleship whose deck was the site of the surrender signing that ended World War II — also has a connection to Gloucester. The famed ship visited the city's harbor on Aug. 12, 1946, when 4,000 residents visited the 48,000-ton vessel in its post-war tour of American cities.
Roger Armstrong of State of the Art Gallery in Gloucester came across Wademan's work of ships portraits and was stunned by both the accuracy and beauty of the paintings.
In an interview at the gallery late last year, when he visited the U.S., Wademan said he felt compelled to paint the USS Missouri to fulfill a childhood passion.
"I had to get this boyhood dream, this vision of maritime splendor, onto canvas in all of its glory — the radar, the guns, and everything," said Wademan who grew up in Nottingham, England. "The painting is in homage to what happened — that cartwheel to our freedom."
The artist left nothing to the imagination in his portrait of the USS Missouri;
Every rivet is in its proper place and every gun is painted to complete accuracy.
If a viewer looks closely, one can see an Essex class aircraft carrier in the background on the open sea. The camouflage on the battleship in 1945 is also historically accurate, the artist explained, because it was all changed for Korea when the battleship was painted with the latest camouflage techniques of that time.
Wademan said he painted the USS Missouri as if it was Tokyo-bound. The battleship would become famous for serving as the location of the formal surrender of the Japanese Imperial government and Japanese armed forces on Sept. 2, 1945.
"I like to do portraits that show the use of the boat," he said. "The USS Missouri was one of my heroes growing up in London. I made a plastic model of it when I was young.
"It's just what a school kid imagined a battleship looked like because of all the little things sticking out," he said. "It gave me all the details I wanted. Its 16-inch guns were about as heavy as they get."
Wademan explained that at the time of World War II, England's royal navy ships were very old.
"After the attack at Pearl Harbor, the U.S. started marking big ships quickly and the USS Missouri represented the most modern breed of battleship at the time," he said. "Now we can see it was the last breed of battleship because air warfare would become more important."
Armstrong recently took the painting to the American Legion post in Rockport where members were wowed by the ship portrait and several members were eager to buy raffle tickets for the painting.
A professional artist since 1965, Wademan worked in the advertising industry in London and Sydney for 30 years, before making a move in 2000 to the New Zealand community of Queenstown.
In a visit to Gloucester last fall, he left a few paintings with Armstrong for exhibit at the gallery. But Armstrong did not know then that Wademan would donate the painting of the USS Missouri.
"His work is detailed and sensitive, and I'm humbled that he would donate such a beautiful painting to the World War II Memorial Committee for us to use as a fund raiser," said Armstrong.
The USS Missouri was launched on Jan. 29, 1944. She fought in Pacific Theater in the Allied invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and the Allied advance on Japan. She fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, after which she was decommissioned into the Navy reserve fleet. She was reactivated and modernized in 1984, later providing fire support during Operation Desert Storm in the early part of 1991.
The battleship was finally retired in 1992, and now rests in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor where it now serves as a memorial.
The value of Wademan's portrait is in the vicinity of $3,500.
Raffle tickets are $10 for one or three for $25. For more information, contact Roger Armstrong at 978-395-1783 or Mel Olson at 978-283-3501.
Tickets can be purchased at the Veterans Center at 12 Emerson Ave., Gloucester, and at State of the Art Gallery at 18 Pleasant St., as well as through local veterans organizations.
The drawing will be held April 14 at the State of The Art gallery.
Gail McCarthy can be reached at 978-283-7000 x3445, or at gmccarthy@gloucestertrimes.com.
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