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Buttersworth, James E. (1817-1894) UK->USA (99)

Category: PAINTERS

ButtersworthJEVKnown for marine paintings from subjects he observed in the waters off New York, James Buttersworth lived long enough to depict the early steamship era. His career spanning sixty years was dedicated to portraits of all types of ships at sea such as racing clipper ships, steamers, and yachts.

Nearly 600 of his paintings have been found, and his contribution in preserving this colorful chapter in American history is profound.

His special skill was portraying the majesty, grace, and movement of sailing vessels, and viewers have a strong sense of being pulled along because of the curves and flow he conveyed in his wind-filled sails.

He applied paint thinly, primarily in oil, and used a variety of grounds including canvas, milkboard, wood panels, and metal. A meticulous draftsman, Buttersworth had an eye for exact detail, and painted clipper ships and great sailing yachts as well as historical conflicts with battleships. The paintings are usually made dramatic by stormy skies and churning ocean waves.

He was born in Middlesex County, England, and it is thought that his grandfather was Thomas Buttersworth, 1768-1828, and his father Thomas Buttersworth, Jr, 1797-1842, both renowned marine painters. Although his heritage is unproven, it is obvious James Buttersworth was well schooled in the tradition of English marine painting.

Between 1845 and 1847, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Hoboken, New Jersey, and little is known of him before that time. He brought many of his paintings with him from England to sell, and Currier and Ives company purchased some of them to convert into lithographs. He benefited from the wide exposure this association gave his work.

Another break came when he exhibited and sold paintings through the American Art Union from 1850 to 1852 in New York City, and, as a result, was commissioned to make a series of drawings for the yacht race of 1851 in England.

He supported a large family and lived in West Hoboken, New Jersey with a view of the New York harbor. He prowled the water in a small boat, which is obvious because his perspectives are that of being on the water.

 

J. E. Buttersworth - 112 PAINTINGS
America's Cup Class Yachts Racing in New York Harbor
Mayflower Leading Puritan, America's Cup Trial Race
Yacht Sappho
A View of New York Sound, The 'Volunteer' in the Foreground
Yacht Race depicting the schooner yacht Dauntless leading the schooner yacht Mohawk
THE ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON CUP RACE, 1851
Schooner 'Columbia' off Portsmouth Harbor, England
Dauntless and Sappho Rounding the Mark, 1871
American Schooner Yacht Off Dover
Schooner AMERICA Off New York
SCHOONER "AMERICA"
Schooner COLUMBIA
Schooner Idler, New York Yacht Club Regatta
Schooner yacht (possibly AMERICA) in the Strait of Dover off England, circa 1855
Maria Racing the Schooner Yacht America
Sappho Racing off New York Harbor
SAPPHO Off the Needles
Schooner COLUMBIA
"The Schooner Yacht DAUNTLESS and a Ship of the Line"
The Hurricane Cup Race: Dauntless v. Columbia
Cutter Yacht ALARM, Royal Yacht Squadron, 1841
The First America's Cup Race
Castle Garden
SCHOONER YACHT “AMERICA”
YACHT AMERICA ISLE OF WIGHT
The Sloop Maria Racing the Schooner Yacht America
The Match between America and Titania, 1851
Yacht America in New York Harbor circa 1852
America c. 1855
Magic and Gracie off Castle Garden
SCHOONER YACHT 'DAUNTLESS' OFF DOVER
YACHT 'DAUNTLESS' RACING TOWARDS VICTORY
"Magic" in New York Harbor
Yacht Daundless in a Full Breeze
The Cambria Arriving at New York
America's Cup yacht, Magic
SAPPHO Leads DAUNTLESS, 1870
Yacht racing scene
Racing Yachts Magic and Gracie
Yachting scene
Yacht America, Racing off Sandy Hook, August, 1870
The Yacht Magic Defending America
Yachts Off the Line
The First America
Yacht MAGIC, 1870
Magic Leading Dauntless
AMERICA'S CUP DEFENDER 'SAPPHO'
The Dauntless off Sandy Hook
Schooner Race
Columbia leading Dauntless around the Sandy Hook lightship in the Hurricane Cup Race
"Dauntless" leading "Columbia" at the lightship with "Madeleine" following
Schooner Yacht COLUMBIA Racing Off Portsmouth
COLUMBIA off the New York Yacht Club Station
Sappho Leading Dauntless Around the Mark
DAUNTLESS and SAPPHO Rounding the Mark ca. 1871
The Yachts Columbia and Dauntless Rounding Sandy Hook
SAPPHO Leads GRACIE and DAUNTLESS - 1871 Cape May Race
Columbia Vs. Livonia Off Sandy Hook
Cornelia and Magic rounding buoy 8-1/2
The Dauntless
The Mohawk and Dauntless off Sandy Hook, 1875
Yachts Madeline and Sappho, Off Sandy Hook Lightship
'MADELEINE' OFF THE BATTERY
Mischief and Gracie America's Cup Trial Race
Gracie, Vision and Cornelia rounding Sandy Hook in the New York Yacht Club Regatta
New York Yacht Club Schooner 'Columbia' Leading New York Yacht Club Schooner 'Dauntless' Rounding Sandy Hook Lightship in the Hurricane Cup Race
Yacht Sappho Beating to the Wind
Puritan Racing Off of Staten Island
PURITAN Races Towards The Narrows Off Brooklyn
Cutters leading the fleet through the sound, N.Y.
Puritan and Priscilla off Sandy Hook
Puritan leading Genesta
1885 Puritan vs Genesta
Puritan And Genesta 1885
Yacht Race in New York Harbor, PURITAN leading GENESTA
The Sloop Galatea
MAYFLOWER Leading GALATEA Around the Lightship, ca. 1886
America's Cup Yachts Galatea and Mayflower
America's Cup Race 1886; Volunteer v. Thistle
1886 Mayflower vs Galatea
Mayflower Leading Galatea, America's Cup
"Volunteer" Racing off Sandy Hook
Volunteer
'Volunteer' Versus 'Thistle', America's Cup, 1887
THE "VOLUNTEER" AND "THISTLE" RETURNING FROM SANDY HOOK, AMERICA'S CUP RACE, 1887
A Race Between "Volunteer" and "Thistle"
A RACING SCENE ON NYACK SOUND: THE VOLUNTEER IN THE FOREGROUND
The Volunteer Rounding Sandy Hook
The Volunteer
Sloop yacht VOLUNTEER and USN vessels in New York Bay
Sloop yacht VOLUNTEER leading in race on New York Bay
Volunteer vs Thistle, Americas Cup Race
America's Cup Race 1886; Volunteer v. Thistle
A Race Between the Mayflower, Volunteer and Thistle
Sloop yacht VOLUNTEER
Volunteer and Thistle Off New York Harbor, America's Cup 1887
Regatta with Yachts (Goelet Cup on August 5, 1887)
A yachting scene round the lightship with the Volunteer in the lead
Volunteer And Thistle
"Vigilant" and "Valkyrie II" in a Strong Breeze, 1893
1893 America Cup Race
Cutter Vigilant with Spoon Bow c.1893
America's Cup Yacht VIGILANT
1893 AMERICA’S CUP
Sloop yachts VIGILANT and VALKYRIE II
Vigilant And Colonia America's Cup Trials
The 1893 America's Cup Race between the Vigilant and the Valkyrie II
Trials for Contenders for 1893 America's Cup Defense (Vigilant, Colonia, Jubilee and Pilgrim)
Yachts Vigilant and Jubilee
AMERICA'S CUP RACE VIGILANT AND VALKYRE, 3RD RACE, OCTOBER 9, 1892
"Vigilant" and "Valkyrie II" Beating to Windward
Vigilant vs. Valkrie II in the 1895 Americas Cup

 

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