TOP Liverpool artist Ted Walker’s painting of the Mersey’s most famous ship adorns the new Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth, named by Her Majesty yesterday.
Ted, from north Liverpool, was commissioned to depict the company’s record-breaking RMS Mauretania.
His large, evocative oil painting was sent from his Merseyside studio to Italy and installed in the £365m liner while fitting out at Fincantieri shipyard, Trieste.
After HM The Queen officially named the 90,000 gross ton, 964ft long liner in Southampton, Ted sailed with the ship.
He wasn’t actually onboard the luxurious maiden voyage to Madeira, but in a tugboat alongside. Speaking before he left Liverpool, he said: “I’ll be taking photographs and making sketches for a painting of the ship herself in the Solent.
“I hope it’s not rough as I love the sea, but I’m not a good sailor!”
The new painting will also go onboard the liner to commemorate her maiden departure.
Ted and his wife Susan were guests of Cunard Line at the Royal naming ceremony and toured the ship to admire his artistry.
A favourite Cunard artist, his work hangs in its Queen Victoria, which visited Liverpool last July.
He also has paintings displayed on Cunard’s flagship, the RMS Queen Mary 2.
