Salute September 26, 1902 1902

Salute September 26, 1902 is a watercolor on paper, created by the Russian artist Lev Lagorio. Born in Feodosia, Crimea, Lagorio’s identity as the son of a Neapolitan merchant deeply influenced his artistic trajectory. Lagorio’s role as a painter for the Imperial Russian Navy invites us to consider the narratives of power, gender, and nationhood embedded in maritime art. As a naval painter he had a manifest destiny to document Russia's imperial ambitions. The ship becomes a symbol of a masculine ideal. Consider too, the emotional resonance of this painting. The muted palette evokes the isolation of the sea. By the turn of the century, the technology of war was changing; ships could fire at great distances and no longer needed to see each other. Lagorio’s painting captures the shift, leaving us with a sense of the personal and the political dimensions of the seascape.