Postcard from MV Ventura: Whitewall Galleries

Anne and I spent two weeks aboard the P&O cruise liner SS Ventura, enjoying Christmas and the New Year celebrations, and some art, courtesy of Whitewall Galleries.

Whitewall Galleries

Whitewall Galleries offer beautiful and innovative original paintings, collectible editions and sculptures from internationally acclaimed artists, alongside the most exciting emerging talents through a nationwide network of galleries.Whitewall Galleries can be found in 36 locations on land, with several on ships, including SS Ventura.

Whitewall Gallery aboard SS Ventura

P&O’s SS Ventura provides space on Deck 5 for Whitewall Galleries to display their wide range of works.

As part of the entertainment programme, Jada, the Whitewall Gallery manager, gave several talks and presentations. I attended three:

• A talk on Jack Vettriano in the Gallery itself
• A presentation on LS Lowry in one of the theatres, attracting a much larger audience
• A talk on the Impressionists – back in the Gallery

Jack Vettriano at the Whitehall Gallery

I was aware of Jack Vettriano’s work and his images which have proved ideal for greetings cards. This one is called The Picnic Party. (Apologies for the poor lighting and reflections!)

One favourite of mine is The Singing Butler. I love his use of umbrellas.

On the cruise, we had to resort to an umbrella now and again and most especially on New Year’s Eve, while watching the fireworks in  Madeira.

Like Vettriano’s dancing pair, we were not deterred by the weather.

Born John Hoggan, this talented artist never had any success with that name, so Madonna-style, in 1989, he reinvented himself and took an Italian surname. Makes me wonder if I would sell more paintings if I were to follow suit?!

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. My previous postcard was from Stratford-upon-Avon.

Next week’s blog shares more of the art we discovered aboard SS Ventura, and ashore too.