Oil Painting of the Paddlewheel Towboat "America" by James Bard
date: label: date made
content: ca 1853
name: label: maker
content: Bard, James
notes: label: Description
content: The steamboat is noted for bringing increased trade to the Ohio River Valley and resulted in commerce and new settlements upriver along the Mississippi into the Midwest. This painting however, is of the America, an ordinary Hudson River towboat, piloted under numerous commands from 1852 to 1896 and grandly named after the schooner sailing yacht of America’s Cup fame. This oil on canvas was painted circa 1853, by marine artist James Bard. The painting is signed in the lower right but the date is obscured by the frame. Bard is known to have done 4 other paintings of this boat.
label: Description
content: This painting depicts a side paddle wheeler towing a dingy, black smoke streaming from its smoke stack, two flags, blue and white and white and red are flying on the bow, adorned with a red, white and blue streamer. A large white flag with the name “America: in red, along with an American flag wave in the back toward the stern, topped with another red, white, and blue streamer. Eight, fire buckets hang diagonally to right below the smoke stack, each inscribed with letter to spell 'AMERICA” and American is painted along the side at the paddle box. A wooden Indian (Native American) with bow and arrow stands atop the pilot house while several of the crew bustle about on deck. In the background to the right of the stern is the image of the paddleboat Belle, the subject of an 1837 painting by both James Bard and his twin brother John. The paddle wheeler off the right of the bow is the Young America, which James Bard painted in 1853.
label: Description
content: James Bard (1815-1897) and his twin brother John (1815-1856) began painting steamships in 1827 at the age of twelve. At 21 they began signing their work J & J Bard, Picture Painters and shortly were listed in the New York City Directory as artists, having painted several dozen works by then. Though prolific painters of sailing vessels and steamships- James is thought to have painted over 4,000 steamships- their canvases earned them only a very modest income. Known for their technical realism, these canvases are now highly valued for their subtle artistic grace.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: depicted; decorative motif
content: Indians
label: depicted; decorative motif
content: Native Americans
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Eleanor and Mabel Van Alstyne American Folk Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.65.0813
label: catalog number
content: 65.0813
label: accession number
content: 256396
objectType: label: Object Name
content: painting
label: Object Type
content: Oil Painting
label: Object Type
content: oil paintings
label: Other Terms
content: Painting; Pictures; Oil on Canvas
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall materials)
label: Physical Description
content: canvas (overall materials)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (frame materials)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (frame materials)
label: Physical Description
content: wire (frame materials)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 42 1/4 in x 61 3/4 in x 3 in; 107.315 cm x 156.845 cm x 7.62 cm