James E. Buttersworth

James Edward Buttersworth (1817–1894) was an English painter who specialized in maritime art and is considered among the foremost ship portraitists in the United States of the nineteenth century.[1] His paintings are particularly known for their meticulous detail, dramatic settings, and grace in movement.

San Salvadore (c. 1869–1886) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum.

Early life and education

Buttersworth was born in London, England in 1817 to a family of maritime artists. He studied painting with his father Thomas Buttersworth Jr., who was also noted for the genre.

Career

He moved to the United States around 1845 and settled in West Hoboken, New Jersey (now Union City, New Jersey),[2] and also maintained a Brooklyn studio in 1854. He returned to England in 1851 for the Race for the Hundred Pound Cup that took place on 22 August 1851. His sketches and paintings of that yachting competition provide the definitive record of events in that benchmark season of sailing.

Buttersworth's paintings of the 1893 Vigilant v. Valkyrie II Cup match were done one year before his death, completing the chronicling of America's Cup races by oil painting just before the advent of successful photographic imagery. He was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1999. About 600 of his pieces survive today, which are found in private collections and museums all over the United States, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Virginia, and have also been featured on the television series Antiques Roadshow.[3]

  • Magic and Gracie off Castle Garden (c. 1871), in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
    Magic and Gracie off Castle Garden (c. 1871), in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
  • Steamboat Escort off the battery (1863) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
    Steamboat Escort off the battery (1863) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
  • Frigate off Dover (c. 1840) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
    Frigate off Dover (c. 1840) in the collection at The Mariners' Museum
  • Clipper Ship Great Republic (c. 1853) Old State House Museum, Boston, MA
    Clipper Ship Great Republic (c. 1853) Old State House Museum, Boston, MA
  • RMS Hibernia (c. 1850s)
    RMS Hibernia (c. 1850s)
  • American Steam-Sail Yacht EMILY at Sea with Four Schooners Off Bow (c. 1878)
    American Steam-Sail Yacht EMILY at Sea with Four Schooners Off Bow (c. 1878)
  • Clipper Ship at Cape Horn
    Clipper Ship at Cape Horn
  • First Rater and Other Shipping off the Spanish Coast
    First Rater and Other Shipping off the Spanish Coast
  • Great Republic (c. 1850s) Old State House Museum, Boston, MA
    Great Republic (c. 1850s) Old State House Museum, Boston, MA
  • United States
    United States
  • The clipper ship Ocean Telegraph (1858) South Street Seaport Museum
    The clipper ship Ocean Telegraph (1858) South Street Seaport Museum
  • The Steam and Sail Ship Western Metropolis
    The Steam and Sail Ship Western Metropolis
  • American Steam-sail ship 'American Steam-sail ship Star of the South, passing an American full rigged ship at sea
    American Steam-sail ship 'American Steam-sail ship Star of the South, passing an American full rigged ship at sea

Notes
  1. James E. Butterworth at butlerart.com Archived 2006-05-08 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Halasz, Piri. "Art: Maritime Theme at Exhibitions; Appeal of Nostalgia History and Humor Portraits of Vessels", The New York Times, January 21, 1973. "James Butterworth (1817-1894), whose work is on view in Trenton, was an Englishman born on the Isle of Wight. By the time he emigrated and settled in West Hoboken (now Union City), America was in the heyday of its gallant clipper ships."
  3. The Union City Reporter; January 2006

References
  • "Ship, Sea and Sky: The Marine Art of James Edward Buttersworth." American Heritage, July–August 1994 v45 n4 p104 (1)
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