Larry Vienneau (Born 1954) American, Scrimshaw and Ink Sperm Whale Tooth. Polished. Likely the tooth of a juvenile based on the distinct point and curvature, unlike the more conical, straight, and worn down end of adult teeth. An amazing depiction of an adult black-skinned sperm whale and a baby white-skinned sperm whale swimming together closely adorns one side of the tooth, along with delicate black dots representing the flowing ocean around them. Signed and dated '88 bottom right of the image.
Condition: An unusual green hue is found on the bottom close to the base, possibly the result of a very old infection or unintentional staining with ink. Commensurate with age.
Size: 2 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.
Laurence “Larry” Vienneau Jr. was born in 1954 in Lynn, Massachusetts. He struggled in Catholic school due to dyslexia, and found solace in the arts, fashioning animals out of clay. He began to volunteer at Cardinal Cushing School working with developmentally disabled children, but after breaking his neck from diving into the shallow pool there he spent nearly a year convalescing. During this time he began experimenting with a scrimshaw kit that his mother bought him, and soon he was hooked, making enough money from his carvings and paintings to pay for college by the time he was 18. He began spending summers on Nantucket, where he studied with other folk artists and took commissions, making him one of the youngest scrimshaw artists in the island’s history. He and his brother Michael worked together for a time, and for a while he worked in the late 70s working in Michael’s gallery on the island. He received his BFA from Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMASS Dartmouth), but his time there was plagued by residual pain and depression from his improperly healed neck injury. He gave up focusing on graphic design and pivoted towards painting and photography, which allowed him more freedom of mobility. He obtained his MFA in painting and printmaking from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and began once again to focus on scrimshaw, doing his thesis on Native Alaskan art. After moving back to Nantucket to try to work as a full time artist, he met and fell in love with a Chinese scrimshaw artist named Barbara, moving with her to Hong Kong in 1986, where they were married. After a year they returned to the United States and settled in Boston, where he taught art at Bridgewater State College. Two years later he became a permanent Associate Professor at the University of Alaska, and the couple remained there through 2001 when they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota so his wife could take a job with Minnesota Public Television. In 2006 the family moved to Lake Mary, Florida, where they remained until his wife’s death in 2016, working on their art in a home studio. He now divides his time between Florida and Massachusetts, where he has been a member of the Artists Association of Nantucket since 1975 and continues to produce and teach the art of scrimshaw, as well as making prints, paintings, and sculptures.
An unusual green hue is found on the bottom close to the base, possibly the result of a very old infection or unintentional staining with ink. Commensurate with age.
