Historic oil painting of RMS Queen Mary approaching Southampton on her first arrival in 1936, framed in pale grey wood above a luxury interior console with white flowers.
Landscape oil painting in a pale grey frame showing the massive ocean liner RMS Queen Mary arriving in Southampton, escorted by small tugboats, passing Calshot Spit under a hazy, soft sky.

Queen Mary's First Approach to Southampton

Available

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Medium Oil on panel
Dimensions 24″ × 20″ (61 × 51 cm)
Framing Pale grey wooden frame
Year 2020
Exhibition RSMA Annual Exhibition, 2020

Queen Mary's First Approach to Southampton depicts Cunard's flagship in the Solent for the first time as a completed ship - the culmination of years of construction and the beginning of a famous career in transatlantic service.

The RMS Queen Mary was Britain's answer to the supremacy of the SS Bremen and SS Europa in the 1930s. She was one of the largest ocean liners afloat and embodied the technological achievement and national pride of 1930s Britain, built at John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland.

This painting captures the moment of her first arrival at Southampton as a new ship, escorted by tugboats through the Solent. The famous red funnels stand out against the hazy English sky. In the background, Calshot Spit - then home to an important seaplane base - marks the entrance to Southampton Water.

Soon, Queen Mary would depart on her maiden voyage to New York, an event that would be celebrated by thousands of spectator boats, as captured in another painting in this gallery. She would go on to capture the Blue Riband (the trophy for fastest transatlantic crossing) and serve as the flagship of the Cunard Line throughout the 1930s and beyond, becoming one of the most recognisable ocean liners to be built.

This painting was created after research into the arrival and the appearance of the Solent in 1936.

Interested in this painting? Simply get in touch, then I'll confirm availability and talk you through the details.

Detail Views
Close-up detail of the bow and iconic red funnels of RMS Queen Mary, towering over the small escorting tugboats in the water.
Detail: Bow, funnels, and escorting tugs
Close-up detail of the distant Calshot Spit coastline, showing the low-lying buildings and seaplane base hangars.
Detail: Calshot Spit and seaplane base
Close-up of the pale grey wooden picture frame, showing textured oil paint of the calm ocean water.
Detail: Pale grey wooden frame

Enquire about this painting

Let me know if you're interested in this painting, and I'll reply with pricing and shipping details for your location. Some works are shared with partner galleries or at exhibition, so I'll confirm availability personally, usually within one working day.

Every enquiry comes to me directly, and I'm always happy to answer questions about the painting, the framing, or the shipping before you commit to anything.

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The framed painting held up against rich dark wooden wall panelling under a warm brass picture light.

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You can speak to me directly by email: gregory@marinepaintings.art or phone: +44 (0) 7916 066 226

Marine artist Gregory Smith
Gregory Smith
Marine Artist · Southampton

Oil painter specialising in maritime subjects. I've exhibited seven times with the Royal Society of Marine Artists, becoming a membership candidate in 2026. Works held in private collections across ten countries.