1987 Wright Pictorial View of Key West, Florida

The Conch Republic - 'a unique collection of characters'

This is a large-format, pictorial promotional bird's-eye view of Key West, Florida, prepared in 1987 by local artist David Harrison Wright for Key Exposure. Although containing many elements of promotional views of the era, it is also unusually informative on local history and culture and evinces uncommon artistic flair.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the east-southeast to present Key West vertically, the view encompasses the entire island. Although in many ways typical of promotional views of the era, advertising local businesses and landmarks, Wright's artistic talents and inclusion of local wildlife give this work a more artistic feel, making it less 'cartoonish' than is typical of the genre. His interests in local history and historic ships (see biography below) are also apparent, as with the emphasis on historic structures (the lighthouse, customs house, city cemetery, and East Martello Tower, among others).

Explanatory notes on these buildings and on local history and culture appear between the advertisements for local businesses. Wright slips in some interesting and amusing features, such as at top, where he points out Key West's being significantly closer to Havana than Miami, and a reference to 'Mount Trashmore,' the colloquial name for a relatively high landfill in the famously flat state. These are likely somewhat oblique references to Key West's local identity and prickly attitude towards the mainland of Florida.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn by David Harrison Wright for Key Exposure in 1987. We have previously sold a 1988 pictorial view of Key West by Wright (KeyWest-wright-1988), which, though only produced one year later than the present view, differs significantly in presentation, being oriented towards the north rather than the southeast as here. The present view is quite rare; we do not locate it in any institutional collections.

Cartographer

David Harrison Wright (October 14, 1944 - April 4, 2019) was an artist and illustrator based in Key West, Florida. Wright was born in Rogers, Texas, outside of Austin. Although he grew up on a ranch, he was fascinated with boats and the ocean, and carved his own toy ships out of old cigar and fruit boxes. Wright attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied interior design, and began taking sailing lessons to fulfill his nautical dreams. After graduation, Wright lived in Houston but traveled to and fell in love with the Florida Keys, eventually moving there in the early 1980s. Aside from sailing regularly, he became interested in local history and began producing his distinctive artistic works. Wright painted in watercolor and several other types of illustration, producing bird's-eye views of localities in the Florida Keys and paintings of ships, flying boats, and seascapes. He was a perfectionist and was known to build models of famous ships that had traversed the Keys, using them as inspiration for his paintings of the same. He also painted murals and produced three-dimensional models of historical buildings such as Fort Jefferson. In addition to his artistic works, Wright was a knowledgeable local historian, focusing on the region's maritime history, and was an active member of both the Key West Maritime Historical Society and the Key West Art and Historical Society.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good.