$11,850
William Bradford (American, 1823-1892) Arctic View , The Polaris in Winter Quarters at Thank God Harbor Signed "Wm Bradford" l. l., identified on a label affixed to the back of the frame. Oil on canvas ( en grisaille ), 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm), framed. Condition: Minor scattered retouch in sky, craquelure. Provenance: Cyril Joseph Bowdring, Washington D.C., to a private collection by family descent. N.B. Richard Kugler has kindly contributed the following paragraphs: "In 1875, William Bradford completed a 6 x 10-foot painting, now in the Glenbow Museum, depicting an ill-fated attempt to reach the hitherto unvisited North Pole. By an act of Congress, fifty-thousand dollars was allocated for the purpose, along with a steam-powered vessel, the Polaris, made available by the U.S. Navy. A group of scientists was also assembled to establish the exact location of the Pole. On September 31, 1871, the vessel sailed to northern Greenland and set up a base for the scientific party at Thank God Harbor. From the start, the expedition was troubled as rival factions engaged, presumably over the conduct of the ship's commander, Charles Francis Hall, who died from arsenic poison shortly after the base was established. With his death, the remainder of the crew and the scientific party abandoned the purpose of the voyage and departed from the Arctic without completing its mission." There are a few scattered dots of retouch in the sky, center top. Craquelure is minor and con Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2010-09-24
