William Bradford (American, 1823-1892) Arctic View

Description:

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."

Estimate $10,000-15,000

There are a few scattered dots of retouch in the sky, center top. Craquelure is minor and confined to the corners, very minor paint loss in the craquelure l.l. Canvas support is split where it folds around the corners of the stretcher on three sides and weakened on the fourth corner. There is some deformation to the canvas on the front in u.l. quadrant.

There is a printed label describing the painting that may have come from an old auction catalogue affixed to the back of the frame.

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