In the 1930s, artist Else Bostelmann illuminated in art what scientist William Beebe dictated to her from his cramped seat in a spherical steel bathysphere as it explored the deep sea off Bermuda. She also set up an underwater studio.
1200 [feet] Idiacanthus. Two Astronesthes.
1250 Fish 5-inch-long, shaped like Stomias
3-inch shrimps absolutely white.
Argyropelecus in light beam.
2 luminous pale white jellies.
1300 6 or 8 shrimps.
50 or 100 lights like fireflies.
Small squid in beam of light,
seems to have no lights, went down to bait.
Cyclothones. Two-inch shrimps.
1350 Light very pale.
Temp. 72 [°F]. Meter wheel reading 403.
1400 Looking straight down very black.
Black as hell.
These observations were dictated by William Beebe, ornithologist, marine biologist, co-inventor of the bathysphere—a spherical steel submersible with just enough space for two skinny men. It was 1930, off the coast of Bermuda, and two skinny men—Beebe and engineer Otis Barton—were engaged in a record-breaking expedition observing life of the deep sea in situ. For each of their dives, Beebe would narrate his observations via a cable that connected the bathysphere to an assistant, most often Gloria Hollister, on the research barge above.
Words alone, though, fell short of conveying the fantastical creatures Beebe saw. Artist Else Bostelmann added color and form to Beebe’s observations—she drew what he saw, only occasionally ever seeing the animal herself when a trawl brought samples to the surface. Where photographs and words failed, Bostelmann brought to life the wonders of the deep in hundreds of prints, including stunning “black paintings” of deep-sea life rendered on black backgrounds.
In The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths, writer Brad Fox tells the story of the bathysphere, its passengers, and those in the orbit of the remarkable undersea endeavor. In this excerpt, we meet Bostelmann and journey with her as she enters the realm she painted so often—not quite to the deeps in the bathysphere but instead to the shallows with a hulking copper diving helmet pressing down on her shoulders. And it was here the innovative and wildly talented artist devised a way to paint underwater.
Drawing the Deep Sea from a Seat on the Shore | Hakai Magazine
1200 [feet] Idiacanthus. Two Astronesthes.
1250 Fish 5-inch-long, shaped like Stomias
3-inch shrimps absolutely white.
Argyropelecus in light beam.
2 luminous pale white jellies.
1300 6 or 8 shrimps.
50 or 100 lights like fireflies.
Small squid in beam of light,
seems to have no lights, went down to bait.
Cyclothones. Two-inch shrimps.
1350 Light very pale.
Temp. 72 [°F]. Meter wheel reading 403.
1400 Looking straight down very black.
Black as hell.
These observations were dictated by William Beebe, ornithologist, marine biologist, co-inventor of the bathysphere—a spherical steel submersible with just enough space for two skinny men. It was 1930, off the coast of Bermuda, and two skinny men—Beebe and engineer Otis Barton—were engaged in a record-breaking expedition observing life of the deep sea in situ. For each of their dives, Beebe would narrate his observations via a cable that connected the bathysphere to an assistant, most often Gloria Hollister, on the research barge above.
Words alone, though, fell short of conveying the fantastical creatures Beebe saw. Artist Else Bostelmann added color and form to Beebe’s observations—she drew what he saw, only occasionally ever seeing the animal herself when a trawl brought samples to the surface. Where photographs and words failed, Bostelmann brought to life the wonders of the deep in hundreds of prints, including stunning “black paintings” of deep-sea life rendered on black backgrounds.
In The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths, writer Brad Fox tells the story of the bathysphere, its passengers, and those in the orbit of the remarkable undersea endeavor. In this excerpt, we meet Bostelmann and journey with her as she enters the realm she painted so often—not quite to the deeps in the bathysphere but instead to the shallows with a hulking copper diving helmet pressing down on her shoulders. And it was here the innovative and wildly talented artist devised a way to paint underwater.
Drawing the Deep Sea from a Seat on the Shore | Hakai Magazine