$82,950
William Bradford (American, 1823-1892) Portrait of the Whaleship Young Hector off Clark's Point, New Bedford . Unsigned, the ship identified on a fragment of paper affixed to the stretcher. Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in., in the original molded giltwood frame. Condition: Relined, scattered retouch, primarily to sky and water. Provenance: According to the consignor, her mother purchased this painting in the early 1970s from Otto Zenke, a leading 20th-century designer from Greensboro, North Carolina. Note: According to a note affixed to the stretcher the " Young Hector was built by William Howland at Padanaram near New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1850 at the expense of $50,000." William Bradford was born and raised in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, across the harbor from New Bedford, the home to the nation's largest whaling fleet. In 1852, after a failed clothing retail venture, a demise caused by his own admission because he "painted too much," he took up painting ship portraits as a profession. In 1854 he set up a studio in Fairhaven, where he collaborated with the Dutch artist Albert Van Beest, who became a mentor and teacher until his death in 1860. Bradford accepted commissions from local mariners, and, following a standard formula of port painters of the time, he accurately and painstakingly depicted the whaleships of New Bedford and Fairhaven and eventually the clipper ships of Boston. In the 1860s, Bradford's interests shifted northward, and he began traveling to La Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2010-03-07
