Bard's last two paintings were of the Saugerties which ran regularly from Pier 35 North River (Manhattan). In 1903 her undistinguished career ended inflames while she rested at her Saugerties dock . The Huntington (California) Library version is signed, stoically, "James Bard 75 years." "Saugerties" by James Bard, 1890, watercolor, 27 11< inches x 50 1/s inches. Courtesy, The Marin ers' Museum.
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subject of artistic appreciation, and client appreciation , as well , for James Bard c laimed to have painted 4000pictures. It was the Bards who set a new course for men like Antonio Jacobsen and Fred Pansing to follow. James Bard was on friendly terms with both. James Bard 's work, after 1849, does pay routine homage to the work of earlier ship portraits in two ways: The ship is always shown in broadside, and the ship is usually moving from right to left. The first allows the artist to display most of the vessel's detail and character, and the second allow s the flags to be easily read. If the portrait were painted left to right, the names would be in reverse. Beyond that, however, Bard brought a locker full of artistic tools which enhanced, enlivened, and often exalted his subject: •Each portrait is factual. •Each portrait is classically balanced. The ship is centered on "the canvas plane. Flags are of equal weight. •Bard lettering is unmatched. Letters are properly spaced. Verticals are 90 degrees. SEA HlSTORY 80, WINTER 1996-97
•Detail is incomparable: curtained windows, wood-graining, wainscoting and latticework are all scrupulously portrayed. •Decorative elements, pilothouse figures and paddlebox decorations are elegantly defined. •Water spray at the bow and the paddlewheels is uniquely crafted. Remember that Bard did not have the sea to use as a setting. His portraits were set in the much calmer waters of the Hudson River and New York bays. •Whenever possible he added bas-relief elements, such as spar balls and eagles. He glued cardboard cutouts to his canvas, gessoed and gilded them. They can be felt. •There is wind in the sky, the water and the many flags. •At least until his final years, he often jammed the boat with passengers, men and women alike, properly dressed in the costume of the day-for men, somber black and tall hats ; for women, colorful prints and bonnets. Furthermore, Bard often added a realistic setting to his portraits, such as Sugar
Loaf Mountain on the Reindeer portrait (at the New York State Historical Association) or a finely drawn excursion grove where day-trippers picnicked, seen behind the steamboat Thomas P. Way (privately owned). The most peculiar element in Bard's style is his seeming inability to properly handle simple perspective, considering that he was so meticulous in every other respect. While his Hudson River School peers were engaged in the idealized rendering of the unspoiled beauties of nature ' s world at rest, Bard was painting an idealized rendering of a machine in motion. With Bard 's striking images we have a more complete sense of that almost forgotten era. So, for as long as there are Bards, we can see the past and know that it was once thus. ..t
Mr. Peluso is organizer of "The Bard Brothers: Painting America under Steam and Sail," an exhibition organized by The Mariners' Museum. (See our calendar in "Marine Art News " for dates and locations of this traveling exhibit.)
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