$70,500
James Bard (American, 1815-1897) The Albany Signed, inscribed and dated "J. BARD NY 1880" l.r., label from Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, on the reverse. Gouache on paper (mounted onto stretched canvas), 22 x 47 in. (55.8 x 118.8 cm), framed (under glass). Condition: Toning and minor staining, minor puncture l.l., not examined out of frame. N.B. A native New Yorker, Bard is best known for his paintings of Hudson River steamships. Although he was a self-taught artist, his work is far from primitive. In his book American Marine Painting , art historian John Wilmerding notes that Bard's "images have certain characteristics of primitive painting: flat patterning, naive scaling and spatial relationships, and bright arbitrary coloring. But Bard was more sophisticated than most primitive painters, a fact embodied in his actual measurements of ships and in his effort to record correctly what he saw. Innocent as he was, what (Bard) chose to paint was transforming American painting and life."
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2002-09-20
