This painting depicts a naval battle of consequence, during the War of 1812, between
the USS Constitution and HMS Guerriere some 400 miles southeast of Nova Scotia. The latter ship was only part of a Royal Navy with large numerical advantage, attempting to enforce a blockade upon American merchant ships. In Rodgovin’s composition, we see the defeated English ship set afire and sinking in the foreground—its crew having surrendered and now prisoners aboard the
Constitution with the American flag flying proudly. Massed clouds provide a dramatic backdrop. In this the painting is accurate, for its emotional impact proved crucial to public support for the war.
About the Artist: Born in London, Rodvogin’s family immigrated to Hartford, CT in 1900. His parents ran a neighborhood grocery store while he drew pictures upstairs and studied with local artist T. J. Thurber. In 1923 Rodvogin received a scholarship to the Art Students League and moved to New York, returning home during the summers. “Then I’d be set for another winter of starvation in New York,” he later recalled (De Bona 111). Not a strong marketer of his own work, Rodvogin made ends meet by selling the occasional photograph or painting, notably a
Time magazine cover in 1932 of the French Prime Minister Pierre Laval. Like “The Constitution and the Guerrere,” Rodvogin’s other WPA works seem to focus upon historic maritime subject matter: the
Mayflower, Battle of Lake Ontario, and so on. During World War II Rodvogin served in the US Navy as an aerial photographer. He returned to New York and then amidst dire straits in the 1950s was invited by the art critic and collector William Ronnick to live as artist-in-residence at a former mansion overlooking Long Island Sound in New London, CT called the Lighthouse Inn. He continued to paint and lived to be nearly a hundred years old. 1 work at the
Lyman Allyn Art Museum. 5 more images at
FAP.
Source Consulted: Joe De Bona, “He’s Losing His Fight Against Success,” Hartford Courant 27 Feb. 1966: 110-111.