James E. Buttersworth

James E. Buttersworth (1817-1894), American marine painter. A major retrospective exhibition highlighting the work of famed 19th century marine artist, James E. Buttersworth entitled "Illuminating the Sea" is currently taking place at the Mystic Seaport Maritime Art Gallery in Mystic, CT through the end of April, 2008. J. E. Buttersworth was a leading 19th century ship painter. His father was the English painter Thomas Buttersworth (1768-1842), who himself exhibited "sea pieces" at London galleries from 1797-1827.James Buttersworth emigrated to the U.S. about 1845 and by 1847 was working for Nathaniel Currier (and soon after for Currier & Ives), who published many of his ship pictures over the next 20 years. Buttersworth settled in West Hoboken, NJ, and established a strong reputation by the 1850's, gaining recognition for his depictions of the yachts in New York Harbor. His work incorporated scrupulous and authentic detail, both of the boats and their settings. His skill at portraying the beautiful shapes of wind-filled sails, and the feeling of a sailboat moving through the water, has never been equaled. In 1781 the three Jackson brothers, John, Samuel and Treadwell, bought a large tract of land in northeast Brooklyn and started what would become the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In 1798 the yard built the first U.S. Government financed vessel, the frigate Adams, and by the War of 1812 it would fit out and supply more than a hundred ships. During the Civil War, the Brooklyn Navy Yard outfitted 416 ships for wartime purposes. By the end of the war, 6,000 men worked at the yard, which boasted an annual payroll of over four million dollars. Buttersworth was acutely aware of the significance of the yard, which he featured prominently in the background of this painting of two racing sloops sailing down the East River on a brisk day. Here, Buttersworth juxtaposes the pleasureable pastime activity of sailing as recreational sport in the prosperous period that followed the Civil War against the historical memory of the recently waged naval battles launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Credit: Falk; A. J. Peluso; Richard B. Grassby, Ship, Sea & Sky: The Marine Art of James Edward Buttersworth, South Street Seaport Museum, new york, 1994, p.116-118, (illustrated in color, p. 116-117, pl. 45) Rudolph J. Schaefer, J. E. Buttersworth: 19th-Century Marine Painter, Mystic, 1975, p. 127, no. 101, (illustrated, for another version of this painting). A yachting scene of similar size by J. E. Buttersworth is also available. Please click on "America's Cup Yacht, Magic" to view. "Yacht Race, East River, NY" Signed J. E. Buttersworth, lower right. Oil on canvas. 14" x 22"   To purchase this painting, you may     by email, or call the gallery directly.

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