Jim Clary

Maritime artist Jim Clary began drawing at a young age, capturing passing vessels on the Detroit River near his home in Michigan. His interest in painting ships and collecting nautical memorabilia deepened. And Clary’s natural talent as an artist evolved into his trademark style, one that is considered a profound union of historical accuracy and artistic detail.

Renowned among maritime museums and private collectors around the world, their patronage included the 1983 expedition that located the Titanic, for which he was the artist and historian; the 1994 expedition to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, for which he was commissioned to paint accurate depictions of the ship; and the 1997 Carl D. Bradley expedition, of which Clary was co-leader. The SS Carl D. Bradley sank in 1958, and Clary’s series Bradley Wreck Views depicts the crew members’ account that the ship broke in half and to the bottom of Northern Lake Michigan. He also authored many of his expeditions’ findings in books like Ladies of the Lakes I and II, Superstitions of the Sea, and The Last True Story of Titanic, which have proven to be as captivating as his art.

The J. Clary Maritime History In Art collection is a historic and dramatic 40 plus year culmination of marine art. Stormy seas and horrific Great Lakes storms, tall ships engaged in battle, freighters making their way through fresh blue waters, vessels in ghosty dense fog, and sunken ships as they now lay at rest are a few of the renditions brought to canvas and printed lithographs. Visit our site at jclary.com, or visit the Gallery in St. Clair, Michigan.

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