Painting by Carl G. Evers
Carl G. Evers has long been recognized as one of America’s finest marine artists of the 20th century. “Shrimpers at Dawn” shows why. His uncanny way of capturing water in motion, his feel for light and shadow, and his skill at drawing and detail combine to give his works what one expert calls a “vibrancy that few can rival.”
Born in Germany in 1907, Evers began his career as an automotive illustrator, working for 16 years in Sweden. In 1947, Evers left war-torn Europe to come to the United States, traveling — prophetically — by freighter. The sea would be his artistic milieu until his death in 2000.
Evers switched from cars to ships and, over the next 50 years, painted the tugs, freighters and ocean liners of the working waterfront for such companies as Cunard, Grace, United Fruit and Moran Towing. He illustrated the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, in which he depicted famous battles, including the Monitor and the Merrimac. His paintings appeared regularly in Yachting, the Saturday Evening Post and Argosy. He graced the cover of Reader’s Digest an incredible 19 times.
Publishers sought him out, and his paintings found their way onto the covers of books by such renowned authors as solo circumnavigator Sir Francis Chichester, marine historian Samuel Eliot Morison and Cmdr. Edward F. Stafford.
A collection of his paintings and illustrations published in 1975 shows the wide range of his subjects — and his talent in depicting them. “The Collected Works of Carl Evers” served as an inspiration to many young painters and is looked for today in the used book market. Russ Kramer’s work, “Joy of Sailing,” pays homage to the “great Carl Evers, whose painting of the same name inspired me as a teenager to want to someday become a marine artist.”
To view this and other worls by Carl G. Evers visit the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery website at www.jrusseljinishiangallery.com or visit the gallery at 1899 Bronson Road in Fairfield, Conn.
December 2013 issue
