Arcadian et Araguaya dans un fjord norvégien par Kenneth D. Shoesmith

Arcadian et Araguaya, navires de croisière de la Royal Mail Lines (anciennement RMSP Royal Mail Steam Packets, voir détails dans Wikipedia) dans les fjords norvégiens.
Dessin des années 30 de Kenneth D. Shoesmith (1890-1939)

Kenneth Denton Shoesmith est un marin britannique du commerce qui abandonna le beau métier quand il se rendit compte qu'il ne pouvait pas consacrer assez de temps à son autre passion, la peinture. Né à Halifax en 1890, il devint cadet en 1906 mais consacra vite plus de temps à dessiner les bateaux qui passaient. C'est un artiste autodidacte. Il rejoint la Royal Mail Company comme officier en 1909 et continue à servir dans la marine marchande jusqu'à la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale qu'il quitta alors pour se spécialiser dans l'affiche pour les compagnies, spécialement celle qui l'avait employé comme officier. Sa première exposition eut lieu en 1921 à Belfast. Le succès ne se démentit plus après cela, son morceau de bravoure fut d'avoir été choisi dans l'équipe qui réalisa les murales du grand cunarder Queen Mary en 1935.

Kenneth Denton Shoesmith, british painter, 1890-1939
Born in Halifax, he was brought up in Blackpool and in 1906 went as a cadet to the Conway training ship. She was then moored in the Mersey and Shoesmith spent most of his spare time drawing the passing ships. He was largely self-taught but did subscribe to a correspondence course called “Revival of Youthful Art League”.

In 1909 he joined the Royal Mail Company as a junior officer, and continued in the merchant marine until the end of the First World War, by which time he found his duties as a chief officer allowed him too little time to paint. He became a professional painter living in London and specializing in poster designs, mainly for shipping firms, and especially for the Royal Mail. He had his first one-man show in Belfast in 1921, and exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon.

In 1925 he was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, and he was also a member of the British Society of Poster Designers. The highlight of his career was perhaps his being chosen in 1935 as one of the artists to paint murals in the great new Cunarder, Queen Mary. His work was strongly influenced by that of Frank Brangwyn. He died in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, on April 6th, 1939.