| Even though the Edition Number is stated as being '150,' much fewer lithographs in the edition were produced. The full amount of any edition will never be known as, unlike etchings where 'restrikes' are possible, the stone image is destroyed forever to make the next one. With only five stones available for use at the facility, none could be 'kept' for future edition reprints. In the olden days 'the bigger the number the more commercially viable' an image was thought to be by the naive artists of that time. An enumeration of 150 was chosen out of the blue - when they all knew it would be impossible to accomplish that number with their facility in the time required. So, it is not hard to understand why they wiped off the stones far short of the 'hoped for' number. At times, the facility was so short on supplies that some images like "Regatta (Rounding Crissy Buoy)" were pulled only a few times." |
| Comments by Otis Oldfield's daughter, Jayne, February, 2003: "'Adieu!' is one of Otis Oldfield's finest lithographic images, and is a true outpouring of the artist's experience aboard the American cod fishing schooner, Louise, on it's annual trip to the Bearing Sea in 1931. Imagine the feeling of being cast adrift from all that is safe and secure to go into the deep black sea with the icebergs of Alaska all around. This lithograph gives off a strong aspect of that feeling, |