William Bradford (painter)
William Bradford (born April 30, 1823 in Fairhaven , Massachusetts , † April 25, 1892 in New York ) was an American painter , draftsman and photographer who participated in eight Arctic expeditions to sea.
life and work
William Bradford, the son of shopkeeper Melvin Bradford and his wife Hannah Kempton, was raised a Quaker and failed in the retail business as an entrepreneur. He then began his career as a painter and worked from 1854 in the whaling port New Bedford - opposite his birthplace - with the Rotterdam painter Albert van Beest (1820-1860) for several years. Bradford also opened a studio in 1854 - specializing in ship views . He painted coastal landscapes of New England , Nova Scotia and Labrador . In April 1861 he went into the arctic waters on a schooner . A painting from that trip inspired Bradford's Quaker friend John Greenleaf Whittier to write the poem Amy Wentworth . The poet dedicated the work to his friend. Bradford's paintings, drawings and photographs of icebergs were admired at the time . He is considered to be the first North American to depict the Arctic Ocean in his paintings when he took part in several of Isaac Hayes' expeditions. In 1862 Bradford was the teacher of the Monmouther painter Charles Dorman Robinson (1847-1933) in Boston .
In 1869 Bradford toured, financed by LeGrand Lockwood , together with the photographers John L. Dunmore and George P. Critcherson (1823-1892) on the whaler Panther , a steamer , in turn the Arctic. He then spent two years in London . In 1873 his book The Arctic Regions, illustrated with photographs from an expedition to Greenland , was published there. Queen Victoria promoted the work of the Arctic traveler.
In 1874 Bradford became an associate member of the National Academy in New York . In association with painters from the Hudson River School , he dealt with atmospheric aspects of image composition - for example the depiction of sunlight and water.
Bradford later met the west coast of the United States on lecture tours across his home country . He stayed in San Francisco for seven years and painted the Sierra Nevada mountains - especially the Yosemite Valley .
William Bradford has lived in New York for the last few years and occasionally visited his homeland on Buzzards Bay . William Bradford died in New York and was buried in his birthplace.
literature
- Edmund von Mach : Bradford, William . In: Ulrich Thieme , Felix Becker (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. tape 4 : Bida – Brevoort . Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1910, p. 505 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
- Gerlinde de Beer: Bradford, William . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 13, Saur, Munich a. a. 1996, ISBN 3-598-22753-1 , p. 527.
Web links
- Kenneth W. Maddox: Entry at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
- Images at artnet .com
- Website about the artist
- Entry in the American National Biography
- Entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica
- Entry in the Oxford Index
- Entry in the New York Public Library
- Entry at the Musée d'Orsay
- Entry at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Entry in WorldCat
- Entry at the National Gallery of Art
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Greenleaf Whittier: Amy Wentworth (English).
- ↑ John L. Dunmore in the SAMM.
- ↑ George P. Critcherson in the SAMM.
- ↑ The Panther in Melville Bay
- ↑ The Arctic regions, illustrated with photographs taken on an art expedition to Greenland (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bradford, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American painter and photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 30, 1823 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fairhaven , Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 25, 1892 |
| Place of death | New York City |