Basil Smith: Grumman G-21 Goose

Artist: Basil Smith
1925 -
Nationality: British
Artwork Year: 1984
Image Size: 7 by 6 inches
Overall Size: 10 by 7.5 inches
Medium: Mixed Media on Hot Press Illustration Board

Many years ago, the explorer Columbus peered from his ship and sighted a magnificent cluster of peaks beautifully silhouetted against the horizon. His thoughts wandered to the legend of St. Ursula. A lovely young princess, she persuaded her father to allow her to go on a cruise before her marriage to a pagan king. With her went eleven ships and eleven thousand maidens. After three years, they were visiting Cologne when the Huns arrived and sacked the city. Thus, Columbus chose to name the archipelago "Las Virgenes" in their honor. Later, pirates and buccaneers patrolled the coasts of these islands seraching for treasure and causing mayhem. The romance so intrigued Robert Louis Stevenson that he used the setting in his classic adventrue Treasure Island. Even today, the British Virgin Islands have an air of magic and romance. And their major airline -- Antilles Air Boats, Inc. -- upholds the tradition, landing its passengers not on the hardness of a paved airstrip but on the softness of the sea. Using the Grumman G-21 or Goose aircraft, she is the world's only surviving flying boat airline. First designed for commercial flights, the Goose was converted for use in World War II as an anti-submarine craft. But, after the war, she was sold to smaller airline carriers. Altogether 345 Grumman G-21's were produced by 1945. But today, only one company still uses the Goose in the airways of only one place -- the British Virgin Islands.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® Trains & Boats & Planes & More Collection Description Card for the Grumman G-21 Goose.

Artwork Copyright © 1984 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB08710

US$ Price: $950.00

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