Titanic Artist Graham Catney

Another Northern Irish artist who takes Titanic as his subject and who is attracting critical acclaim just now is retired customs and excise interrogator, Graham Catney. Graham has come to art late in life but already is considered to be a prolific talent. He works in lithographs rather than paint. A sketch is drawn onto a piece of stone with a wax crayon and then etched in acid before going through a printing press. “It doesn’t mean you are buying a print,” Catney jokes.

Catney bases a lot of his work on themes and places relevant to Belfast. While other artists from Titanic’s home city tend to concentrate on the beginning of the ship’s life, as she took shape in Harland and Wolff shipyard, Graham continues the story to portray Titanic’s final resting place, “Titanic Submerged” and “At Rest”. His art shows Titanic today, being explored by robotic submarines on the seabed. He also allows himself to change history and imagine what the scene would look like if the famed ship had made it to the other side.

Watch Graham Catney - An Artist in Belfast

He says, “The Titanic has always fascinated me. My grandfather worked at the yard during that time. He was a riveter. The thinking behind the “Titanic arrives in New York” is my imagination of something that could have happened but sadly did not. How lovely it would have been for it to sail up to New York with everyone on board safe and sound.”

Graham explains the thinking behind another of his lithographs, “The Titanic Survivors” He says, “They left all their jewellery behind. That wasn’t important. The important thing was their lives. Gone was the champagne and caviar. How precious life is!"

Some of Graham’s work can be viewed at an exhibition entitled “Titanic at Home” in the Linenhall Library in Belfast until the end of March. He is also planning other exhibitions throughout 2011.

Visit the Graham Catney website

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