page_title: James Bard
section_title: Later works
hierarchical_section_title: James Bard / Works / Later works
caption_attribution_description: English: "James A. Stevens," oil on canvas, by the American painter James Bard. 30" x 50.12". Courtesy of the Mariners Museum.
context_page_description: James Bard was a marine artist of the 19th century. He is known for his paintings of watercraft, particularly of steamboats. His works are sometimes characterized as naïve art. Although Bard died poor and almost forgotten, his works have since become valuable. Bard had a twin brother, John and they collaborated on earlier works.
context_section_description: The break into works done alone by James Bard is marked by the oil paintings of the steamboats Ocean and Boston in March 1850, which are signed by James alone.   The 1850s were a boom-time for ship construction in New York, and Bard received many commissions from owners of newly built vessels.  Bard appears to have earned a modest living from his work, as he was listed as "artist" in various city directories, but his financial success was somewhat limited, as there is no record that Bard ever opened a bank account or owned real estate.  There is some indication he may have worked as a railroad mechanic or engineer in the 1860s.  In the 1880s Bard's commissions declined, although as late as 1890 he was still able to produce two commercial watercolors.
  Bard may have gone to California in the late 1870s, as he painted two vessels that were assembled there from prefabricated parts manufactured in Brooklyn.  There is no record of Bard having traveled to California but it has been pointed out that it would have been unlikely for him to have painted vessels he had never seen in operation.
  By 1892, however, with age his ability to draw had deteriorated, and he apparently was no longer able to earn a living.  In the 1890s, Bard and his wife  moved to White Plains, New York, apparently to live with his daughter, Ellen, who apparently had the sole, if limited ability to support them.  In late 1896, Bard's wife Harriet fell ill with pneumonia and she died on January 5, 1897.  James Bard himself died on March 26, 1897.  Their daughter Ellen lived until 1919.  She worked as a maid.  Her father's friend, Samuel Ward Stanton, helped her stay off public assistance by sending her money every month.  Other than their works, James and John Bard left no papers, journals, wills, or other documents.   Bard was almost forgotten by the time of his death in 1897, although he was the subject of a single obituary, probably written by his friend, the important marine artist and historian Samuel Ward Stanton.
caption: James A. Stevens, oil on canvas, 1857. Mariners' Museum
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