Joe Duncan Gleason (1881-1959) - Spanish Galleon - Color Lithograph 1920s AP1609
In full sail before a brisk wind ,its sails blazoned with the heraldry that marks it as a Royal Spanish ship this brave vessel thrills the sea-faring heart. Or the pirate's. It looks like a rich prize for any enterprising privateer.
Art measures 14" x 18", frame 17" x 20 1/2". Signed himself as Duncan Gleason in the print.
Joe Duncan Gleason (1881-1959) was born in Watsonville, California and studied at the University of Southern California with Lees Judson. He attended the Mark Hopkins Institute in San Francisco, the Art Institute of Chicago, and studied with Frank DuMond at the Art Students' League.
In New York he worked as a magazine illustrator; the proceeds were sufficient to enable him to travel in Mexico, Europe, and North Africa. After returning to California, Gleason painted Impressionist-style landscapes around Laguna Beach and had several successful solo exhibits at local galleries. Gleason was an accomplished athlete on the Roman "flying rings," winning the Amateur Athletic Association's National Championships from 1907 to 1923.
After his marriage in 1919, Gleason returned to New York where he made illustrations and painted portraits. He began to focus on marine painting, traveling to New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts to study windjammers and whaling ships. He made detailed ship models and in 1922 published a limited-edition book of original etchings of sailing ships.
In 1924 he moved to San Pedro, California and by the mid-1920s was working at movie studios, authenticating, illustrating, and making visuals for scripts for MGM and Warner Brothers. His background in illustration was an asset in assignments calling for the depiction of square riggers, whaling ships, and U.S. Navy metal-sided ships. Gleason was active as an art teacher and became a popular after-dinner speaker, where he spoke on subjects ranging from sailing to painting to television. He received many awards at competitive exhibitions.
He became increasingly involved with art clubs and as a spokesman against modernism in art, which he viewed with suspicion. Active in the California Yacht Club, Gleason crewed on a few occasions in the Newport-Ensenada races. He was also active in the U.S. Power Squadrons and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and actively lobbied for California state marine parks, including privately-owned Catalina Island.
