Drawing Boats and Ships

By Yngve Edward Soderberg

Yngve Edward “Sody” Soderberg (1896-19720), well-known for his distinctive maritime etchings and watercolors, began his artist’s career by studying in his native Chicago at the Chicago Art Institute. After completing three years of study, re received a scholarship for a year at the Art Student’s League in New York. After travel in Europe, Sody discovered Masons Island, a pristine island off Mystic, Connecticut. The Tranquility, the rocky shoreline, the glorious water, and most of all the boats, were a major turning point for the artist. Soderberg became renowned for his etchings depicting class racing. During the 1930s, he achieved success in both watercolors and etchings for his renderings of the America’s Cup Races which appeared on the covers of such magazines as The Sportsman, Yachting, and Town and Country. During the Depression he painted WPA murals and produced Christmas cards for the American Artists Group. During World War II “Sody” turned his hand to producing morale posters for shipyard workers, and he forged a relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard where he was an invited artist guest on board the training ships Denmark and barque Eagle. In 1959 Soderburg began teaching art full time, and this book, first published in 1959, is a culmination of his technique. Until his death, Yngve Edward Soderberg continued to produce beautiful pieces of art, and today his works are included in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Chicago Art Institute.

Published by Flat Hammock Press, 2008