Austin Dwyer
Clermont on the Hudson

Oil on canvas. 24x18" Although Steam had revolutionized shipping on the Thames, on the other side of the Atlantic a young man named Robert Fulton was making history in America. Robert Fulton was one of the most obscure of all the famous men in American history. He was an artist, inventor and mechanical engineer. He is probably best known for designing and building the Clermont. The Clermont was a paddle steamer design and went into service operating on the Hudson River between New York and Albany. She was the first steamboat passenger service in the United States in 1807 and housed an engine that had been manufactured in Birmingham, England. However, it is only fair to note that the idea of manufacturing a steam-powered engine to propel a boat was successfully achieved in the United States by John Fitch. He launched his boat on the Delaware River August 22, 1787. The Clermont was however the first practical and commercially successful steamboat to date. Original available.

3420
2
Austin Dwyer is a Fellow and past president of the Puget Sound Group of NW Painters. He is also a signature member of the American Society of Marine Artists and member of the Board of Directors. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland. His travels brought him to the United States where he joined the USAF. After being discharged in 1961, he arrived in Seattle a proud American Citizen. He studied at the Burnley School of Professional Art in Seattle and after graduation co-founded Cohen-Dwyer Advertising and Marketing. Austin also taught Illustration and Design at the Burnley school for 14 years. He retired in 2005 from Cohen-Dwyer Advertising and Marketing in Seattle and During that period, he continued to promote his maritime paintings which are now in galleries and private institutions throughout the United States and Europe. He recently founded, with his co-founder C.R. Bryant, the Pacific Rim Institute of Marine Art.