AFA Summer 2021

2021 Antiques & Fine Art 85 The occasional voyage organized specifically to serve the purposes of art contrasts with the more common practice of art in service of an expedition. Bradford undertook six voyages to Labrador and one as far as Greenland to make firsthand observations of the environment and life in high latitudes. His paintings are distinctive for the subdued tones and mystical optical effects unique to the polar atmosphere. He never witnessed ships caught in the ice, but he was taken by seal hunters’ stories of the spring 1863 season when the wind shifted and nearly 40 vessels became trapped amid the ice fields and were quickly crushed. William Bradford (1823–1892), Icebound Ship, about 1880. Oil on canvas, 30 × 48⅛ inches. Peabody Essex Museum; Museum purchase with funds from anonymous donor, 1996 (M27190). ©2020 Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Kathy Tarantola.