Vigilant Beating
James E. Buttersworth (1817-1894)
“Vigilant” and “Valkyrie II” Beating to Windward
Mystic Seaport collection, 2007.53.1
Henrietta
James E. Buttersworth (1817-1894)
Ocean Scene, “Henrietta” Scudding
Mystic Seaport collection, 2007.53.15
Newport
James E. Buttersworth (1817-1894)
Yachts and other vessels off Newport
Mystic Seaport collection, 2007.53.23
Illuminating the Sea: The Marine Paintings of James E. Buttersworth, 1817-1894
A major retrospective exhibition highlighting the work of famed 19th-century marine artist James Edward Buttersworth, opens at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT
March 28 – July 5, 2009
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James E. Buttersworth (1817-1894) has long been recognized as a premier marine artist distinguished by his story-telling prowess, as well as his meticulous attention to detail with the brush and pallete. He began his career in England studying under his father, Thomas, himself a respected marine artist. In the late 1840s, the younger Buttersworth emigrated to the United States and became immersed in chronicling the maritime world of New York.
Upon his arrival, Buttersworth experienced America at the height of the Golden Age of Sail and steam transportation. Ships and boats were the principal means of transportation, and their owners, builders and shipmasters were the celebrities of the day. Buttersworth captured all this on his canvas and became one of the most prolific marine artists of the nineteenth century. His paintings detailed packet ships, ocean steamships, clipper ships, naval frigates, harbor craft and most especially, the glamorous world of American yachting.
In the 1850s, Buttersworth contributed numerous paintings and sketches to Currier & Ives depicting famous vessels and marine disasters for their popular lithographs. His clipper ship views, many of which were published as lithographs, and his America’s Cup race paintings are widely respected for their combination of artistic and documentary qualities.
Paintings in the exhibition will span Buttersworth’s entire career, beginning with his early British period in the 1840s and ending with the 1893 America’s Cup series, completed a year before his death. Featured paintings of interest include “Sloop Yacht Haswell” and “Yacht Kate Off Boston Light,” illustrating ships built for Charles Henry Mallory, one of Connecticut’s most prosperous ship owners.
Like his contemporary “luminist” and Hudson River School artists, Buttersworth excelled in the dramatic renderings of sea and sky, elevating the precisely detailed renderings of ships beyond document to art.
The exhibition features approximately 28 paintings, some of which were part of a recent gift to Mystic Seaport. In 2006, Donald C. McGraw Jr., grandson of McGraw-Hill Inc.’s cofounder, bequeathed his private collection of 24 Buttersworth paintings to Mystic Seaport. This bequest brought Mystic Seaport’s total number of Buttersworth paintings to more than 50, making it the largest single public collection of the artist’s work
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