Towboat "John Birkbeck"
1854
Artist, American, 1815 - 1897

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 75.8 x 133 cm (29 13/16 x 52 3/8 in.)
framed: 87.6 x 145.4 cm (34 1/2 x 57 1/4 in.) -
Accession
1971.83.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Recorded as from New York. (Yesteryear, Kingston, New York, 1939). Purchased by (Frederick F. Hill) as agent for Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia, 1940.[1] (Old Print Shop, New York), by whom sold in 1951 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1971.
[1] Letter of 8 February 1973 from Harold S. Sniffen, Assistant Director of the Mariner's Museum, to William P. Campbell, in NGA curatorial file. Sniffen writes that their purchasing agent Frederick Hill bought the painting for the Museum from an unknown agent or dealer on 1 August 1940.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1975
Extended loan for use by John O. Marsh, Jr., Counsellor to the President, The White House, Washington, D.C., 1975.
1976
Extended loan for use by Secretary William T. Coleman, Jr., U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C., 1976-1977.
1978
Extended loan for use by the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy residence, Dublin, Ireland, 1978-1981.
1982
Extended loan for use by Secretary John Block, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 1982-1984.
1985
Two Centuries of American Naive Painting, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, 1985.
1997
The Bard Brothers: Painting American Under Sail and Steam, Natl. Mus. of Am. Art, Washington, D.C.; South St. Seaport Museum, New York; Mariners' Museum, Newport News; New York State Historical Assoc., Cooperstown, 1997-1998, unnumbered cat., repro.
Bibliography
1977
Peluso, Anthony J., Jr. J & J Bard, Picture Painters. New York, 1977: 70.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 24, repro.
1992
Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 9-10, color repro. 9.
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 25, repro.
Inscriptions
lower right: Picture Drawn & Painted by James Bard N.Y. 1854 / 162 Perry St.; on forward banner: J.B; on rear banner: JOHN BIRKBECK.; on boat: JOHN BIRKBECK.
Wikidata ID
Q20188222