Her Majesty the Queen cut the ribbon to launch the last great Clydebuilt Cunarder, Queen Elizabeth 2, and at 2.28pm on 20 September 1967 the elegant new liner began to move for the very first time. The venue was the world-famous John Brown shipyard at Clydebank near Glasgow which had built so many of QE2's illustrious predecessors, including legends like Lusitania, Aquitania, Caronia, and of course the two mighty Queens.

40 years later on 20 September 2007, QE2 returned to the waters that bore her as the climax to her special round-Britain cruise celebrating the 40th anniversary of her launch. After a thrilling 23 minute tribute by the Red Arrows, at precisely 2.28pm, QE2's booming fog-horn sounded for 40 seconds to mark the moment she had entered the River Clyde 40 years earlier. On the promenade deck of the liner at Greenock, artist Gordon Bauwens fondly relived that memorable moment in 1967 when, as a schoolboy, he watched the ship slip gracefully towards him and thousands of other wellwishers gathered on the south riverbank to watch history unfold.

With his wife and family, Gordon had been invited aboard for the 40th Anniversary celebrations on 20 September 2007 to perform signing sessions of his latest personal tribute to his favourite liner. This was in the form of an oil painting reproduced as 400 Limited Edition prints showing QE2 amidst the glorious island scenery of the Clyde Estuary, heading towards Greenock early on the morning of the 20th. The highest mountains seen behind the ship are those above Glen Sannox on the Island of Arran at the foot of which are the measured mile markers used by the brand new QE2 as she ran her speed trials in 1969. This latest image is the 9th painting of QE2 by this Glasgow-born artist - the first recorded her launch 40 years earlier.

In the last 40 years, QE2's career has elevated her from a mere replacement for Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth to becoming the world’s most famous and best loved liner in her own right. She has also become the longest serving Cunarder ever, the fastest passenger liner afloat, the most travelled ship in maritime history, (5.6 million nautical miles) and is probably the most commercially successful passenger vessel ever built. But more than all this, QE2 has earned a place in the hearts of ship-lovers and sea travellers the world over like no other liner. Wherever she sails, this elegant 40-year-old still attracts large crowds of sightseers and admirers anxious to catch a glimpse of this unique icon of our time.

Following the announcement of her retirement from service in November 2008, appetite for QE2 memorabilia is rising. Few are destined to become more collectable than these 400 beautiful 40th Anniversary art prints, encapsulating all that the Grand Lady stands for and individually signed and dated by Captain Ian McNaught on 20 September 2007. Captain McNaught was QE2's Master on her 40th Anniversary round-Britain celebratory cruise and shares the artist's own deep passion for the world’s most famous liner.