Contact: Mike Horyczun
Director of Public Relations
(203) 869-6786, ext. 330
For Immediate Release
March 25, 2009
Illuminating the Sea:
The Marine Paintings of James E. Buttersworth, 1817-1894
March 28, 2009 – July 5, 2009
Bruce Museum
1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT 06830
James E. Buttersworth (1817-1894)
“Magic” in New York Harbor
Mystic Seaport collection, 2007.53.20
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, on Saturday, March 28,
2009, and is on view through Sunday, July 5, 2009. A ship portraitist who meticulously illustrated
America’s Golden Age of Sail, Buttersworth captured a realistic view of sea and sky while
incorporating the human element into his work. The show is organized by Mystic Seaport, the
nation’s leading maritime museum, and sponsored at the Bruce Museum by the Charles M. and
Deborah G. Royce Exhibition Fund and a Committee of Honor co-chaired by Nat Day and Tom
Clephane with Honorary Chair L. Scott Frantz.
- more -
2
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.
- more -
3
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.
The Bruce Museum exhibition also includes a few paintings from two private collectors
and scale models of the American Cup ships Valkyrie and Puritan. Public programs being
presented at the Bruce Museum in conjunction with the exhibition include “Art and Artist Family
Day” on Sunday, March 29, 2009, and “Set Sail on Long Island Sound,” which features sailpainting and environmental workshops, on Sunday, June 14, 2009.
Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum
is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, the last
wooden whaleship in the world. Mystic Seaport also features a working preservation shipyard, a
re-created 19th-century coastal village, exhilarating exhibits and a planetarium. The Museum’s
collection of more than two million artifacts includes more than 500 historic vessels and one of the
largest collections of maritime photography in the country. For more information, visit
www.mysticseaport.org.
The Bruce Museum is located at 1 Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut, near
Interstate-95, Exit 3, and a short walk from the Greenwich, CT rail station. Museum hours are:
Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Mondays and
major holidays. Admission: $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, and free for children under
five and members. Free admission to all on Tuesdays. Groups of eight or more require advance
reservations. Museum exhibition tours are held Fridays at 12:30 p.m. Free, on-site parking is
available. The Bruce Museum is accessible to individuals with disabilities. For information, call the
Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376, or visit the Bruce Museum website at www.brucemuseum.org.
*****