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Lot Essay
From his beginnings as a draftsman and painter, William Bradford sought to portray his scenes with the greatest accuracy. "A block or line of rigging out of place, a mast set too forward or aft, the improper location of boat davits and deck furniture, or sloppy rendering of a figurehead would not escape scrutiny..." (R.C. Kugler, William Bradford: Sailing Ships & Arctic Seas, New Bedford, Massachusetts, 2003, p. 6) Bradford was born in Salem on the North Shore of Massachusetts and raised in the whaling town of New Bedford, near Cape Cod. Surrounded by water and wharves throughout his youth, Bradford became well acquainted with the details of the ships and their sailors as well as the movement and the effect of light against the water.
In the beginning of his career, Bradford was a successful ship portraitist, selling works to owners of vessels and shipmasters. As noted by a critic from the Boston Atlas, "Mr. Bradford has a good eye for naval architecture, and his 'portraits,' had they other merit, would be distinguished for their fidelity. This is especially remarkable in the facility with which [he] seizes upon the peculiar construction of the model; but at the same time it may be seen in the accuracy with which he realizes every part of the ship, even to a block or bulwark. The sea and atmosphere are also well rendered; and the general effect is that of an agreeable picture." (as quoted in William Bradford: Sailing Ships & Arctic Seas, p. 6) By the end of the 1850s, Bradford had evolved his subject matter and style from ship portraitist to what his best works are now recognized to be-"detailed presentation of vessels, naturally set on the waters where he found them, often framed by headlands or shoreside wharves and structures." (William Bradford: Sailing Ships & Arctic Seas, p. 12)
In the beginning of his career, Bradford was a successful ship portraitist, selling works to owners of vessels and shipmasters. As noted by a critic from the Boston Atlas, "Mr. Bradford has a good eye for naval architecture, and his 'portraits,' had they other merit, would be distinguished for their fidelity. This is especially remarkable in the facility with which [he] seizes upon the peculiar construction of the model; but at the same time it may be seen in the accuracy with which he realizes every part of the ship, even to a block or bulwark. The sea and atmosphere are also well rendered; and the general effect is that of an agreeable picture." (as quoted in William Bradford: Sailing Ships & Arctic Seas, p. 6) By the end of the 1850s, Bradford had evolved his subject matter and style from ship portraitist to what his best works are now recognized to be-"detailed presentation of vessels, naturally set on the waters where he found them, often framed by headlands or shoreside wharves and structures." (William Bradford: Sailing Ships & Arctic Seas, p. 12)