This book explores the remarkable art and life of William O. Golding (1874-1943), an African American mariner and artist who made vibrant drawings of ships and far off ports while he was a patient at the US Marine Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, during the 1930s. Autobiography, private symbolism, and sailor’s lore color his drawings, which contain worlds of information embedded in signal flags, waterfronts, and expressive miniature figures. His experience was rooted in the South, with the added perspective of a sailor and world traveler who served in the US Navy and as a merchant seaman during times of war. Expressive and idiosyncratic, his drawings stand out in the history of American art and are long overdue for closer study. 76 full page reproductions of Golding’s work allow the reader to examine the artist’s maritime world in exceptional detail.

“In all that time since I left home I have been all over the world from North, South, East, and West and plenty of ports in the Seven (7) Seas from England to China, Japan, India, Australia, Africa, West Indies, Central America, South America, around Cape Horn 23 times, Cape of Good Hope 25 or 30 times.”—William O. Golding (Golden)



Distributed on behalf of Telfair Books.