Multi-Million dollar search for art to be displayed aboard Queen Mary 2
Mustcruise
The hunt is on for a royal treasure trove of fine art to decorate the cabins,
companionways and public rooms of Cunard Line's highly anticipated liner, Queen
Mary 2.
The London-based marine interior design firms Tillberg Design and the Design
Team created detailed specifications for a multi-million dollar contract to
supply nearly 5,000 works of art for the pleasure of the 2,620 guests aboard
the 150,000-ton ship.
The contract has been awarded to the Netherlands art consultant firm
Onderneming & Kunst (Enterprise & Art).
"Queen Mary 2 will be the largest passenger ship ever built," said Deborah
Natansohn, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Cunard. "Therefore,
it's only proper that she should possess an art collection worthy of her
status. Cunard Line has always been a patron of the arts, and Cunard liners
have always been repositories of fine art. QM2 will continue this tradition in
grand style," Natansohn stated.
The firm expects to award commissions for well over 300 original works, which
will be created especially for QM2 by renowned international artists. Works
will range from free-standing bronze and glass sculptures to expansive murals,
oil paintings, watercolors, mosaics, reliefs, models and many other works.
Major elements of the liner's art collection will include a sculptural relief
of some 450 square feet, a 300 square-foot tapestry, a number of oil paintings
in the range of 250-300 square feet each, several groupings of oversized bronze
sculptures and a trompe l'oeuil painted ceiling of 1,200 square feet.
In addition, the company will supply some 4,000 limited edition prints for use
in cabins and companionways on board.
There will be time for the paint to dry, however. The massive ship is scheduled
to be delivered in late 2003 by the Alstom Chantiers de L'Atlantique shipyard
in Saint Nazaire, France.
Recent tank tests were successfully completed on a model of the liner's hull,
and construction is due to begin early next year. Bidding also is underway to
supply the massive quantities of other materials and fixtures needed to
complete this, the first purpose-built ocean liner built in a generation.
Carpets, furnishings, wiring and acres of linens and fabrics all must be
selected and ordered, as well as the technical and mechanical elements that
will make the vast machine capable of steaming across the North Atlantic at
over 30 miles per hour.
The two sets of huge fin-like stabilizers that help control the rolling of the
ship in Atlantic swells, for instance, were recently ordered from Britain's
Rolls Royce company. Even the steel plating for the sleek 1,131- foot-long hull
is a special order, being several times thicker than that used on most
contemporary ships, to achieve the greater rigidity required for crossing the
Atlantic in all weathers.
Cunard Line, one of the world's most recognized brand names with a classic
British heritage, has been in the business of providing luxury ocean travel for
more than 160 years. The Cunard fleet includes famed Queen Elizabeth 2 and
Caronia.
(Source: http://www.cunardline.com/ )
Erkan ISIK
Anchors Away Cruises & Tours
Burlingame - CA
http://www.mustcruise.com