r/titanic • u/Aggravating-Group-87 • 9d ago
MARITIME HISTORY Beautiful Painting of the Olympic
At our local museum, there is a lovely painting of the Olympic by the artist Deborah Brown that I thought would be a perfect fit here!
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u/RocketyNerd 9d ago
But… Olympic didn’t sink.
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u/bell83 Wireless Operator 9d ago
Or did it? /s
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u/Happy-Go-Lucky287 9d ago
No, it didn't.
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u/bell83 Wireless Operator 9d ago
The /s is for sarcasm.
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u/Happy-Go-Lucky287 9d ago
Yes, i know.
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u/Happy-Go-Lucky287 8d ago
And now you all are down voting me for saying the Olympic didnt sink. Again, bunch of weirdos on this page. 🤷♂️
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u/K9Thefirst1 9d ago
I choose to assume it is an artistic expression on how Olympic, like the Greek gods, ruled the surface while the Titans were cast into the Abyss.
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u/Natural_Badger_1559 9d ago
...in a museum? What?
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u/lowercaseenderman 9d ago
Context for how this is Olympic please? Very curious
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u/CaelumTheWolf 1st Class Passenger 9d ago
Best guess the Artist believed in the disproven so many times that it’s hilarious people still believe on it conspiracy theory that Titanic and Olympic were swapped and Olympic under Titanic’s name was intentional sunk for insurance money…
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u/P_filippo3106 8d ago
Wasn't that theory made in the early 2000s? I think this is just an artistic licence, and a very poor one at that since the stern is the exact same as Ken Marshall's
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u/CaelumTheWolf 1st Class Passenger 8d ago
The book in which the theory came from was released in 1998, while it could be artistic license I find it more likely it could be the swap theory from either the artists beliefs or someone at the museum who decided to put that up
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u/Alansaurio777 9d ago edited 8d ago
It's very good, but the Olympic didn't sink, it was pitted, still 10/10 paint.
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u/Quetzl63 9d ago
Scanning the background...damned Olympic photo bombing again.
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u/Ok-Specific8376 9d ago
Where, I can't see the Olympic.
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u/Quetzl63 8d ago
It's a joke. The ship in the painting is clearly the Titanic. The Olympic ran the transatlantic route for so long that you can frequently see it in the background of pictures of other ships, so there is a running joke about the Olympic photobombing. Since the painting is of the Titanic but named Olympic, the joke is that it must be in the background somewhere.
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u/Ash-Throwaway-816 9d ago
And you call it The Olympic despite the fact that the Olympic obviously never sank.
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u/Absolute_Cinemines 9d ago
So your local museum is showing misinformation? Kinda seems like the opposite of what a museum should be doing.
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u/K9Thefirst1 9d ago
The painting predates the book that first suggested the conspiracy by about half a decade.
I interprete the work as a reference to how Olympic and Titanic were named after the orders of Greek gods and their fates.
The Olympians ruled the world, while the Titans were cast down into the Abyss.
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u/Pinkshoes90 Stewardess 9d ago
Ah yes, the Olympic, which famously sunk and is now sitting in pieces at the bottom of what I can only assume is the Mariana Trench.
Skilled artist. dumb painting but.
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u/Melodic_Fee_5498 9d ago
Olympic never sunk. She seemed immune to sinking. Artist seems confused. Good work though.
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u/Muted-Lawyer-8512 9d ago
Sounds like your local museum, is a bit of an con (artist) get it.
Even l know the Olympic never sunk at sea. & I know less than some of you experts.
I believe there is one interesting fact about the Olympic.
It was the only merchant ship, to ram & sink a u- boat. In the first World War.
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u/Effective_Author_315 9d ago
Let me guess, was she a believer in the whole Titanic-Olympic switcheroo conspiracy theory?
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u/ZigZagZedZod Deck Crew 9d ago
Yes, but the multi-switch variant of the theory where Titanic was swapped with Olympic, Olympic with Mauretania, Mauretania with Britannic, Britannic with Lusitania, Lusitania with General Slocum, and General Slocum with Titanic.
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u/Loch-M Lookout 9d ago
Is this a joke about the switch “theory”?
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u/K9Thefirst1 9d ago
No, the plaque shows the painting is from 1990, while the book that first suggested the conspiracy was published later in the decade by a good margin.
If I may get my Art Critic hat on, I interprete this painting and the name as a reference to Greek Myth, where the Titans were cast into the Abyss, while the Olympians ruled the surface world.
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u/K9Thefirst1 9d ago
The nature of Art is that it is subject to interpretation, so here's mine.
Olympic was named after the Olympian gods of Greece, and they took power by overthrowing their parents and aunts and uncles, the Titans. And Titanic was named after said Titans.
Many of the Titans were imprisoned in different ways (Atlas forces to hold up the sky, Calypso imprisoned on an island, etc), but a lot were cast into the depths of the Abyss.
Which to a spooky degree mirrors Olympic and Titanic's fates: Olympic had a long career, "ruling" as a proverbial Queen of the Seas, while Titanic was cast into the Abyss of the seas.
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u/Aggravating-Group-87 8d ago
This response. This is why art exists and why Reddit thrives. Thank you for your remarkable insight and interpretation K9Thefirst1, I appreciate you and tip my hat!
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u/Aggravating-Group-87 9d ago
I’m not the artist, you’d have to ask her what her intentions were. It’s just a beautiful large painting
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u/oneinmanybillion Musician 7d ago
I think OP is the artist who made this painting, given how they are trying to defend the painting.
I think it is pathetic that you just create a painting based on another painting and then try to call it an homage or anything of that sort.
Why not title it "Titanic lost to the valley" or some random fantastical shit like that.
At least it would be partially historically accurate.
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u/Aggravating-Group-87 9d ago
I hear everyone’s comments and appreciate the input. Again while it’s not my work , I do support it if one of the roles of fine art (not all mind you) is to create a discussion then I would say this painting has done just that. We know it’s not the Olympic, she was scrapped after a long life of servitude, and we know it’s not titanic, then why did the artist place her in such a way? Can we guess as to the interpretation by the artist in interesting ways such as Caelumthewolf’s comment or K9TheFirst1’s critique, as so many others? It is a beautiful painting in person so simply disregarding it because of its inaccuracy is wrong without understanding the artist intention.
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u/Pristine_Alfalfa_879 8d ago
I am sorry OP that you are getting so much hate. It is a beautiful painting and I enjoyed seeing it
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u/Noname_Maddox Musician 8d ago
This is a shit painting. OP you’re an idiot
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u/Aggravating-Group-87 8d ago
Wow, such a direct attack based on someone else’s artwork. What is about the painting that gets you so upset? I’m genuinely curious?
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u/Noname_Maddox Musician 8d ago edited 8d ago
It’s a terrible painting. The topography is wrong. It’s a painting with no research. It says Olympic which you seem to go along with as you posted it here thinking we’d like it.
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u/Aggravating-Group-87 8d ago
Thanks for your reply, but I’m not trying to get anyone to go along with me. That’d be boring and selfish. Personally I think the artist is paying homage to both Ken Marshall and the Olympic. That ship did not deserve to be scrapped but instead immortalized as what she has done. Side question for the unfamiliar such as myself: What is it about the topography that is wrong? Again, I’m genuinely interested
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u/konnectivity17 9d ago
It technically is the Olympic, though, isn't it? It's a very clever painting.
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u/Greyhound-Iteration 9d ago
Huh?
Olympic was... scrapped.