Cheshire Antiques Consultant Ltd

Description

Ships That Pass In the Night” — RMS Titanic Under Full Nocturnal Moon with RMS Olympic White Star Line Liner in the Distance
By Andrew Grant Kurtis
Subject and Medium
A large, dramatic marine masterpiece: a collector-grade moonlit maritime nocturne depicting RMS Titanic underway on calm Atlantic waters, her illuminated presence cutting through an inky, reflective sea. On the far horizon, a second White Star Line liner—RMS Olympic, Titanic’s near-identical sister ship—appears in the distance, lending the scene an added layer of historic romance and connoisseurship.
Medium: Oil on canvas (late 20th-century modern depiction)
Style / School: Contemporary traditional / academic realism within marine painting, treated as a nocturne—romantic, nostalgic historicism emphasising atmosphere, tonal contrast, and reflective light on water.
Composition and Technique
This painting is built around light, distance, and stillness—the three pillars of a great nocturne. Kurtis places the moon high behind broken cloud, allowing soft, silvery illumination to fall in a long path across the water. The sea is handled with layered, confident brushwork: deep blue-black passages are lifted by shimmering strokes that catch the moonlight, creating the hypnotic rhythm of night water.
Titanic’s silhouette is composed with strong architectural clarity—hull mass, superstructure, and funnels reading cleanly against the sky—while tiny points of deck illumination provide scale and grandeur. RMS Olympic, set back into the haze, is deliberately quieter and softened by atmospheric perspective, so the viewer experiences her almost as an echo: two White Star giants sharing the same ocean under the same moon.
The overall effect is refined rather than sensational—elegiac, composed, and intensely decorative in the best sense.
About the Ships
RMS Titanic was an Olympic-class White Star Line liner built at Harland & Wolff, Belfast, celebrated in 1912 as a pinnacle of Edwardian engineering and luxury. Here she is presented in her most iconic guise: purposeful, steady, and monumental under moonlight—an image of modernity and aspiration.
Importantly, Kurtis includes RMS Olympic on the horizon. Olympic was Titanic’s near-identical sister ship and the lead vessel of the Olympic-class, enjoying a long and successful transatlantic career. Her presence expands the narrative: Titanic’s brief, mythic moment is set against the broader White Star legacy and the full sweep of the great ocean-liner age.
Historical Significance
On her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912, Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. The tragedy reshaped maritime regulation and safety standards and remains—over a century later—a touchstone of collective memory across literature, film, museum culture, and collecting.
Kurtis’s nocturne treatment is especially effective because moonlight naturally suggests themes of fate, distance, and silence. It functions as icon and elegy in one image—achievement illuminated, history quietly implied.
About the Artist
Andrew Grant Kurtis (British, b. 1950) is a contemporary painter known for atmospheric landscapes, cityscapes, and especially nocturnes, executed in a traditional realist manner. His strength lies in tonal control—how he builds darkness without deadening it—and in orchestrating reflected light so it feels natural rather than staged.
Here, the palette is confidently restrained: cool blues, smoky greys, and silvery highlights that appear to float across the water. The result has a cinematic presence while remaining classically structured—exactly what high-end collectors look for in a statement maritime nocturne.
Signed
Signed lower left: “A. Grant Kurtis”
Framed
Presented in a substantial, heavy gilt wood frame with applied rococo-style ornamentation. The weight and depth of the carved timber profile give the piece true “gallery wall” authority, while the gilt finish amplifies the nocturne palette and enriches the moonlit highlights in the room.

Provenance
Commissioned directly from the artist, the painting then entered a private Wiltshire collection, later carrying evidence of theatrical association/handling, including a handwritten label reading:
“Ships That Pass in the Night (Renegades Theatre) Ilford”
together with white chalk inventory/handling markings including “523” and further chalk notations to the reverse framing members.
It was subsequently sold via a notable southern shire auction house and acquired by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD.
Exhibition History
Loan exhibition: Famous Lord Hill Museum, January 2026
Exhibition title: “Moonlit Giants: Titanic & the Great Ocean Liners”
Connoisseurship / Dealer’s Opinion
In the opinion of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD, this painting represents one of Andrew Grant Kurtis’s finest and most visually commanding works, distinguished by its monumental scale, accomplished nocturne handling, and—above all—the exceptional historical resonance of its subject.
The depiction of RMS Titanic, arguably the most iconic ocean liner of the modern era, elevates the work beyond a conventional maritime scene and positions it as a significant collector’s piece within both the fine art field and the specialist Titanic / White Star Line collecting world.
Why You’ll Love It


Museum-wall presence — monumental scale with immediate room-anchoring impact


Exceptional nocturne atmosphere — moonlight, reflection, and tonal sophistication that rewards sustained viewing


Titanic + Olympic narrative depth — the horizon liner enriches the White Star story and adds connoisseur appeal


Cross-collecting desirability — fine art collectors and Titanic/White Star specialists converge on works like this


High-end presentation — a heavy gilt wood frame that delivers true collector-level finish


A rare combination of decorative power and historical gravitas: the kind of painting that becomes the conversation piece, then the legacy piece.

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