Theodore V. C. Valenkamph (1868-1924)

Born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1868, Theodore Victor Carl Valenkamph served in the Swedish Navy for eight years, during which time he traveled widely and embraced the opportunity to study ships and their movement, as well as the character of the open water under a range of weather conditions. Around 1899, Valenkamph immigrated to the United States, settling first in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and by 1903 he had moved into the Studio Building on Tremont Street in Boston. He became a member of the Boston Art Club, and exhibited his work there in 1906 and 1908. After 1908, however, it seems that Valenkamph returned to the North Shore and began listing his address as Rocky Neck Avenue in East Gloucester. Contemporary reviews of his work lauded his ability to accurately portray his subjects and the feel of being on the ocean: “Over swelling seas the old type of sail boat comes winging out of the past on full and spreading sails in the splendid marines of T. V. C. Valenkamph. So faithfully are they painted that those who know can tell if they be barque, brigantine or ship, for never a detail is missing. They are not, however, mere studies of old time sailing craft but strong and beautiful pictures by a man who knows the sea as only a sailor can.”[1]

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