For Scrap Only

oil, 17" x 25"

$12,500

This painting is based on the artist’s personal experience working as an electrical engineer on a Polish rescue tug in the 1970’s. This painting shows the Russian destroyer Stepenny being towed by the tugboat M.E. Perkun (in the distance) in May, 1989, on the route from Nakskov, Denmark to Santander, Spain, a total of 1,392 nautical miles. After changing course from the English Channel, going South entering Bay of Biscay, when the strong winds and waves of the Atlantic Ocean have pushed the Stepenny sideways to a position almost parallel with the tugboat M.E. Perkun, shown in the distance, (which was owned and operated by the Polish Ship Salvage Company). Both ships, the destroyer and the tugboat were well-known to me, as I was the Chief Electrical Engineer on the tugboat and the destroyer (same class), I spent a lot of time on these boats while in the Navy service. The hanging rope visible at the port side of destroyer is an emergency hawser, if the main towing steel hawser breaks. The rope line is only to regain control more easily over drifting wreck until installation of second steel line from towing ship. After the “ice season” the Perkun frequently was doing towing jobs within an unlimited range. The history of Poland from 1945 to 1989 was the period of Soviet dominance and communist rule imposed after the end of World War II. These years, while featuring general industrialization and urbanization and many improvements in the standard of living, were marred by terror, social unrest, political strife and severe economic difficulties. This is a very symbolic painting for me. The Soviet Union’s Navy was one of the arms of terror, Russian destroyers were frequently visible in the territorial waters of Poland. In 1989 the end of Soviet Union dominance finely arrived, you can see in this painting who is pulling whom and where. The Russian Stepenny, once the symbol of might and power, now represents only the value of scrap per pound - “For Scrap Only.” We see the Stepenny guided on towing line by those who were terrorized by her not long ago, and sailing under the ship breaker’s torch.