The American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) has announced that Naval History Contributing Editor J. M. Caiella is the winner of its 2020 Best Painting Award.
Caiella, a renowned artist/illustrator whose work appears regularly in U.S. Naval Institute publications and elsewhere, won the AAHS Best Painting honors for his stunningly photo-realistic depiction of the airship USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) approaching the mooring mast on the USS Pakota (AO-9) circa 1925.
“It is nice to be honored for one’s work, no matter what it is,” Caiella said. “It is the personal validation that we are doing something worthwhile to someone. For me, publication alone is the real validation: An editor thinks my work is worth something to their readers. Then I am on to the next illustration.”
At the end of each year, the AAHS asks its members to select the best article and best painting published in the AAHS Journal that year. Voting participation is heavy among the journal’s membership. To learn more about the society, visit aahs-online.org.