Boston Globe cont.

THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE continued

As a youth, Osmundsen loved art and drawing. He made his first sculpture when he was 13.

Ever since he boarded the tall ship Christian radich as a young boy with his father who was in turn the son of a Norwegian born yacht captain and rigger boss, Osmundsen has had a passion for seaworthy sailing. That come across vividly in his sculptures. When he enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Osmundsen began to further explore these themes as a naval draftsman and illustrator.

In 1976, when the Christian Radich pulled into Boston Harbor in honor of the bicentennial, Osmundsen fulfilled a lifelong dream and returned to the ship. He stayed aboard for 10 days to film, draw and plan a series of sculptures on cadet sailing.

In 1977, Osmundsen debuted his "Bronzes from the Sea" collection in the Rockefeller Center windows of Scandinavian Airlines in New York City. In 1978, in an exhibit of the same series in Oslo, Osmundsen's sculpture "At the Helm" was presented by King Olav to the Christian Radich and remains the only piece of artwork permanently installed on the ship.

return to prevoius page

Twelve Meter Cockpit-the Afterguard

In "Twelve Meter Cockpit - The Afterguard,"

a sculpture that greets visitors at the door of the studio. Osmundsen captures the energy aboard a racing yacht that he did in honor of the America's Cup races in 1983.

"That was a close-up inside the cockpit of a 12-meter racing craft. the purpose of this piece was to get the viewer inside the craft, to get the excitment of the helmsman, the tactician and the navigator and the interplay, somehow - throw you into the world that they were in," Osmundsen said.

Osmundsen is working on anther series of seaworthy figures paying tribute to the men who sailed the largest sailing yachts.

The J boats, built from the turn of the century through the 1930's were the biggest single-masted sailboats of their time. They were about 120 feet long and required large crews of about 30 men. my series will focus on a crew of 12," Osmundsen said.

continued

ATELIER OSMUNDSEN BRONZES FROM THE SEA

FINE ART SCULPTURE BRONZE MONUMENTS BY COMMISSION