“Marooned”
I was lucky enough to see this painting in a traveling exhibit as a kid, and it is still one of my favorite pieces.
“Marooned” is an evocative oil on canvas piece by the American illustrator and author, Howard Pyle, from 1909. So simple, it is one of his most emotive pieces, using stark composition to depict the feeling of loneliness. Some critics have said that this painting marks the moment when Pyle crossed over from illustrator to fine artist.
Pyle paints a pirate who has been marooned on a desert island, a common punishment for those who broke the pirate code. He is sitting on the sand, his knees pulled up, mourning his fate. He wears a red bandana and vest, cream shirt, brown billowy pants, green socks, and black buckled shoes. His tricorne hat, coat, and a canteen of water are flung on the sand in front of him. The pirate is small against the larger scene of the sand and sky. The sky is a bright yellow green. A flock of birds is seen in the distance in the right part of the canvas. Surprisingly, Pyle never used this image as an illustration in any of his books.
This painting is the second version of a piece that Pyle painted earlier in 1887 to accompany an article he wrote for Harper’s Magazine, titled “Buccaneers and Marooners of the Spanish Main”. In the original version, the scope of the painting is cropped and much closer to the pirate. He sits in a similar pose, but accompanied with a hat, bottle, and gun. The 1887 version of “Marooned” is an oil on board painting in the collections of the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island.
There was no typical pirate outfit at the time Pyle made this. The pirate’s style comes straight from his imagination. His works became so popular, that he created the pirate image we all know today.
“Marooned” is currently on display at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, in the United States.
For more on Howard Pyle, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
