TITANIC - LAST FAREWELL

The bands played, the streamers flew and the crowds cheered; their loud ‘hurrahs’ filling the air as the world’s largest liner slipped gently away from the White Star berth at Southampton. The fateful maiden voyage to New York had begun.

It was a bitterly cold, crystal clear night and the sea was flat and calm. In the crow’s nest of RMS Titanic, four days out from Southampton, two vigilant lookouts shivered, the warmth of their breath steaming in the freezing air. Then, at 11.40pm, they saw it dead ahead – an iceberg. With adrenaline pumping through their veins they rang the warning bell and hailed the bridge, but it was too late. The lookouts could only stare in horror as the ship’s starboard side struck the deadly ice.

A few days earlier, however, the scene had been so different. The RMS Titanic presented a majestic sight as she sailed down Southampton Water and into the Solent accompanied by a flotilla of all shapes and sizes. It is this magical moment that Robert Taylor has chosen to commit to canvas. His latest painting, Titanic – Last Farewell, is dedicated to the memory and the Centenary of the Titanic’s fateful voyage.