"An Omen" B-26 Giclee Print by Jack Fellows

Jack Fellows has been called a perfectionist at heart, and that attitude toward his work has created a passion for recording the essence of his subjects.

Jack's interest in art began as soon as he could pick up a pencil at about the age of four years old. Painting professionally since 1967, Fellows has drawn wide acclaim and numerous honors for his oils & pastel paintings in galleries and art shows throughout the world.

His favorite subjects, ethnic scenes, World War II vintage aircraft, and especially the Pacific Theater, at first seem to be an odd combination of subject matter. Fellows explains that he paints pictures of scenes that are not likely to be seen any longer. Such influences as having a wife of European descent and a father that was a Boeing Aircraft engineer that worked on the original B-17 project, further explains a basis for his subject selections.

The historic qualities of his paintings are emphasized through his attention to graduations of light, the precision in which he assigns tonal weight to highlight and shadow, creative use of brilliant colors and the feeling of depth that he creates. Fellows draws upon technical skills acquired during his training as a commercial artist, and paints with a realism that pulls the viewer emotionally into the painting.

His works are found in corporate, private, and museum collections as well as various publications worldwide.

"An Omen" Signed and Numbered Limited Edition B-26 Giclee Print by Jack Fellows

As it is within the Japanese character to pay attention to the symbolism that is woven by happenstance into the events of each day, the sudden early morning appearance of a Martin Marauder hurtling at prop tip height down the flight deck of the AKAGI may have seemed to Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo that this unlikely intruder's act was an omen of some significance. For the six months since the surprise attack on the United States' Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Navy had rampaged, nearly unmolested, across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean…all the way to the Indian Ocean, and South China Sea, unopposed, except, briefly at the Coral Sea. By the end of this day, the 4th of June, 1942, the fortunes of the Imperial Japanese Navy will have taken a dramatic reversal, placing them on the defensive for the rest of the war. Aboard Akagi, the flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy's huge Midway strike force, the vaunted Kido Butai, Nagumo must have felt considerable confidence in his fleet's capacity to capture Midway, and in the process smash the remnants of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet…and most particularly the carriers that the Kido Butai had missed at Pearl Harbor six months earlier, on the 7th of December, 1941. Chuichi Nagumo knew as well as anyone that the sheer size and intricate complexity of the Midway Operation increased the likelihood of the unexpected, and that no one, including the architect of this and the Hawaii Operation, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, possessed the prescience to divine the outcome of such an enormous undertaking. And so it would be that Chuichi Nagumo would be likely paying attention to the symbolism served up by that morning's events.

On Midway, a coral atoll, consisting of several tiny islands , a patchwork defense of Marine Corps, Navy and Army attack, bomber, and patrol aircraft waited for the arrival of the huge Japanese invasion fleet that US Naval code breakers discovered to be on their way. Among this eclectic mix were four B-26 Martin "Marauder" fast medium bombers, now equipped to carry aerial torpedoes, two from the 38th Bomb Group and two from the 22nd Bomb Group, both from the fledgling 5th USAAF. Although the island was to endure a terrific pounding by the attack bombers of the Kido Butai's four fleet carriers…Nagumo's strike force…the Midway-based defenders put up a desperate but spirited attack on these carriers…setting into motion a series of circumstances based on Admiral Nagumo's misreading the Midway-based attackers' numbers and capabilities. His decision to re-arm his four carriers' attack aircraft with ordinance intended to destroy land targets was based on the notion that his carriers were still threatened by Midway's aircraft…when, in fact, except for some Army B-17s , effectively, Midway's aerial defenders were all but wiped out in the first round.

The self-confident Japanese Naval planners could not have imagined that the US Naval Intelligence unit was busily reading their most secret naval communications and that the Americans had laid an ambush at Midway as a result of this compromise. Even so the Japanese were superior in the number of ships, most notably the number of aircraft carriers, and just as important, the combat-readiness of the carrier aircrews. Furthermore, at the time that Lt. James Muri was hurtling down the flight deck of Akagi, mere feet away from Nagumo, in a desperate attempt to gain some respite from the attentions of Akagi's CAP Zeroes, Kido Butai reconnaissance aircraft had yet to sight any of the US Fleet, but would shortly do so.

The shocking discovery of the three US carriers would then give Chuichi Nagumo the reason to once again unload the land attack ordinance that was now aboard the waiting armada of aircraft littering the flight decks of Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu, and Kaga, and proceed to reload them with ordinance more suitable for attacking ships. This fateful decision was responsible, more than anything else, for the US Navy's stunning defeat of the Imperial Japanese Naval forces during the Battle of Midway, for the Americans had already launched their attack aircraft. Had not the Midway-based attack been so spirited, and had not Lt. Muri so audaciously buzzed the Admiral, the decision to re-arm the Japanese attack aircraft for another trip to Midway, may well not have been made….and the critical launch timing between the opposing fleets would have been sufficiently altered to have created a vastly different outcome. By the end of the day, all four of the Japanese carriers had been destroyed, the USS Yorktown was the only carrier loss suffered by the United States Navy.

29.25" by 19.25" Image Size, 35" by 24" Overall, Giclee Print, Edition of 199 - $200

Also Available:

29.5" by 19" Image Size, 34" by 24" Overall, Giclee Artist Proof, Edition of 10 - $225

29.5" by 19" Giclee Canvas, Edition of 10 - $350

The Original 36" X 24" oil painting on stretched canvas is also available - Contact us for information

All Limited Edition prints are signed and numbered (S/N) by the artist. Limited Edition prints are restricted to a certain number. For example, if 400 prints are made from an original painting, once they’re gone, that’s it. There is no limit to the number of open edition prints of a particular painting. That’s why Limited Edition prints are more expensive — and more valuable to collectors — than "open" edition. Rare objects are more valuable.

An Artist’s Proof (AP), generally, is the first 5% - 10% of the Limited Edition prints that come off the press. If the Limited Edition is 200 s/n, there would be 10 - 20 APs. This status is noted on the print. Collectors prefer APs because their value increases even more than a Limited Edition as time goes by.

A giclée print is created with digital printers using tiny ink jets that spray microscopic ink droplets onto a sheet of canvas, creating a lush, vibrant and textured art print that has the look of an original painting. These canvas giclées come stretched, ready for framing and need no glass in front of the image to protect it. The giclée is typically larger in size than the limited edition print and slightly smaller than the original painting.

All Limited Edition artwork is subject to availability at time of order. Although seller strives to remain currrent as to inventory, seller reserves the right to cancel a sale if item is no longer available at time of purchase.