I have this old watercolor painting of the USS Maine and I recently discovered a mystery about it [View All]

[moobu2]

My old watercolor on the right looks to be associated with this other print of a 1898 watercolor on the left though I'm not sure how they are connected. The image of the Maine on the left was reproduced as a print sometime around when the USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor (it's signed and dated 1898). The USS Maine blowing up and sinking in Havana Harbor along with some other stresses and strains allegedly caused the Spanish American War. Now, I've had my watercolor for decades but it's history is lost to me. One day a couple of weeks ago I started Google searching for information about the Maine and came across the image on the left. If you compare the images with each other you'll see that the characters are in exactly the same positions on both of them and the perspective is the same. 2 guys on the foreword crows nest and 1 on the lookout stand on the mast, 3 on the bow and even one in the rear life boat etc... My watercolor isn't as sophisticated but looks great in person. It has that wavy antique glass with bubble inclusions with the original mat and frame. I took mine out of the frame for the photo because if the glare of the glass etc... Wonder why they're similar? hmmmmmm.