NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE EXHIBITS ORIGINAL WORKS OF WORLD'S GREATEST
IMPRESSIONISTS ON NORWEGIAN DAWN
Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet and Renoir
Masterpieces Displayed on the Cruise Line's Newest Freestyle
Cruising Ship
MIAMI (October 7, 2002) - Most new ships boast a multi-million
dollar art collection. On Norwegian Cruise Line's (NCL) new
Norwegian Dawn, however, a single restaurant will feature
four original works valued at more than the entire collection
of most other ships. In a new development for the cruise industry,
NCL is installing a collection of original oil paintings by
20th Century masters Renoir, Matisse, Van Gogh and Monet in
its signature Le Bistro restaurant. Elsewhere on the ship
guests will enjoy a collection of original Pop Art featuring
original signed works by the likes of Andy Warhol.
The artwork is on loan from Star Cruises Chairman Tan Sri
Lim Kok Thay's personal collection and will be displayed on
the 2,240-passenger Norwegian Dawn, scheduled to debut in
December. Norwegian Dawn is sister ship to the acclaimed Norwegian
Star.
NCL is giving passengers on Norwegian Dawn the unprecedented
opportunity to enjoy the stunning creativity and genius of
these masters on each of its sailings in 2003 and 2004. The
centerpiece paintings have been exhibited worldwide including
at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the National Gallery
in Washington DC.
"Students of both art history and cruising will see
the connection immediately between Impressionism and Freestyle
Cruising," said Colin Veitch, president and CEO of Norwegian
Cruise Line. "They know that the Impressionists, in a
short extraordinarily innovative period, broke the classical/traditional
mold that had characterized all western art for the entire
19th Century. Art was never the same again and virtually everything
since then traces its roots to masters such as Van Gogh, Renoir,
Monet, and Matisse. How fitting then that we have fine examples
of their works on the ship whose ordering in April 2000 marked
the announcement of Freestyle Cruising.
"Freestyle Cruising has broken the mold of traditional
cruising that has characterized all cruising since the 1960's,"
continued Veitch. "It's hard to deny that cruising will
never be the same again!
"Themes utilizing reproductions and derivations of
impressionist art have often been used for bars and lounges
aboard cruise ships. This is the first time original pieces
of this quality from artists of such world renown have formed
the permanent collection aboard a cruise ship. New Yorkers
will love it!" Veitch added.
The four master works on exhibit each represent outstanding
examples from different periods in the artists' lives. A summary
of each follows:
"Un Parc Au Printemps (A Park in Spring)"
- Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)
Painted in May 1887 during the two years the artist
spent in Paris - among the most pivotal of his career -- the
earliest known owner of this piece was Mme E.H. du Quesne-Van
Gogh. It has previously been exhibited in Amsterdam at the
Van Gogh Museum on loan from 1993 - 1999, and in Washington,
D.C. at the National Gallery of Art from 1998 - 1999.
"Nu Au Turban (Nude with Turban)" - Henri
Matisse (1869 - 1954)
Often regarded as the most important French artist
of the 20th century, Matisse painted this work in Nice in
1921. Acquired from the artist in April 1921 by Josse &
Gaston Bernhelm-Jeune, it was exhibited publicly by the National
Museum in Stockholm in 1963.
"Vetheuil de Soleil (Vetheuil in Sunshine)"
- Claude Monet (1840 - 1926)
Painted in Giverny in 1880 by the man credited with
the birth of Impressionism, this work was originally acquired
from the artist in April 1880 by Luquet and Ernest Hoschede.
It has a long history of exhibitions starting in Le Havre
by the Society for Friends of the Arts of Le Havre in 1880.
It was later exhibited at the Hotel de la Curiosité
et des Beaux-Arts in 1925.
"La Baigneuse (The Bather)" - Pierre-Auguste
Renoir (1841 - 1919)
A leader among the Impressionists, Renoir painted
this work in Cagnes in 1909. Maurice Gangnat of Paris, a friend
and patron of the artist acquired it in June 1925. It was
first exhibited in Paris at the Musee de l'Orangerie in 1933
and then at the Palais des Beaux-Arts of Brussels in 1935.
"North American audiences will now have the opportunity
to view these priceless works together for the first time,"
Veitch said. "At the same time, we wanted to provide
a range of modern art onboard a ship that will be based in
two vibrant modern cities, New York and Miami, so we have
included a series of original works by New York icon Andy
Warhol to reflect the fun and bright colors of the new NCL.
"
NCL will display 20 signed and numbered Warhol silkscreen
prints in two of its expansive stairwells on Norwegian Dawn.
Masterworks for A Masterful Ship
Norwegian Dawn, the third ship purpose-built for
Freestyle Cruising, is now under construction at the Meyer
Werft Shipyard in Germany. She will sail from Southampton,
England on December 7th arriving in New York City on December
14, 2002. From there, NCL will roll out the red carpet for
its inaugural festivities in New York and Miami before the
ship begins her regularly scheduled sailings alternating between
the Eastern and Western Caribbean from the port of Miami on
December 21, 2002.
The ship begins her inaugural summer season from New York
on May 18, 2003 to begin a series of seven-day, round-trip
sailings to the Bahamas and Florida.
Ports of call on this innovative itinerary include Nassau
and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, and Miami and Port Canaveral/Orlando
in Florida. Guests have the additional option of embarking
in Port Canaveral as well.
Like Norwegian Star, Norwegian Dawn will be one of NCL's
largest ships, accommodating 2,240 passengers and 1,100 crew.
It will also feature NCL's new standards in cabins, with rich
cherry wood finishing, refrigerators, tea and coffee makers
in every room, and a much larger bathroom unit than other
ships, containing separate WC, shower, and washstand compartments
separated by sliding doors. Seventy percent of cabins are
outside staterooms and over 70 percent of these have balconies.
Thirty-six suites, 372 standard staterooms with balconies,
and an entire deck of 107 mini-suites with balconies are among
the spacious and well-appointed accommodations located on
the 15-deck ship. There also will be 20 cabins of various
types designed for passengers with disabilities.
In addition, Norwegian Dawn offers the ultimate opportunity
to cruise in style with the spectacular Garden Villa suites.
At a cost of $26,000 per week, each of the two Garden Villa
suites offers an unprecedented 5,350 square feet of living
space at sea.
Also like Norwegian Star, this ship offers more dining options
than any other ship in the world, with the flexibility of
10 different restaurants and 11 different menus every night.
Guests can choose from three main dining rooms and an array
of seven ethnic, gourmet and casual restaurants.
Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line is an international cruise
company and industry innovator that currently operates a fleet
of eight ships sailing to more than 140 ports around the world.
NCL is currently building Norwegian Dawn (for delivery December
2002), a 2,240-passenger sister ship to Norwegian Star.
For reservations and more information, contact a travel
agent or NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (800) 327-7030; in
Miami-Dade County, Florida, (305) 436-0866; visit NCL's web
site at www.ncl.com; or on
AOL at keyword: NCL; or to download high resolution photography
of the art visit www.ncl.com/hires.
#
# #
Return
to News Index
|
