In 1967, even as the mighty QE2 glided down the ways at the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, predictions
abounded that she would be the very last passenger liner built for the North Atlantic. In fact, Cunard had
wisely designed her for both cruising and trans-Atlantic crossings and thanks to sound marketing and the
legendary appeal of QE2, she continues to sail and enthrall as the world's most-travelled and
arguably, most successful passenger liner ever.
The spectacular growth in the cruise industry in the late 20th Century prompted Cunard to unveil plans to build the
first true transatlantic liner since the 1960s. Heralded as the world's most expensive and largest-ever passenger liner,
Queen Mary 2 entered service in January 2004 amid a blaze of maritime publicity not seen for decades.
As part of her series of maiden voyages, QM2 in company with QE2 left New York Harbour on
the evening of 25 April 2004 at the start of a thrilling combined transatlantic crossing. Not since the 1940s had
two Cunard Queens berthed together in New York, and never before had two Queens sailed within constant
sight of each other right across the Atlantic.
Aboard QM2 is a set of commissioned oil paintings created in 2003 by Gordon Bauwens, the maritime
artist who created Cunard's official QM2 artist impression. Cunard Queens, one of two large works by
this artist hanging in the magnificent Grand Lobby, welcomes passengers aboard Cunard's new flagship and
features the scheduled start of this unique tandem transatlantic crossing in April 2004.
GB Marine Art has secured a one-off quota of museum-quality Giclees for its customers from a highly collectable
Limited Edition of 295 reproductions. Based on the Cunard Queens original, these beautiful state-of-the-art digital
prints are carefully printed in Amsterdam by Cunard's art agents for the QM2 project. Using heavy grade
Hannemuhle art paper, each Artist-signed Giclee print is rated light-fast for 100+years and comes with
matching Certificate of Authenticity.
