James Edward Buttersworth (1817–94)
Racing Yachts, n.d.
Oil on canvas
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection, 2022.48
Jeffery Howe
Professor Emeritus, Art History
The noted marine painter James Edward Buttersworth was born in England in 1817, and moved to the United States in 1847, working from a studio in Brooklyn. The busy port of New York offered many subjects. Scholars distinguish between marine painters and seascape artists, as marine painters like Buttersworth have a high degree of technical knowledge of ships. Although a prolific artist, he rarely exhibited, instead selling directly to clients. Taking advantage of new commercial opportunities, he made his work available to a mass audience through lithographs published by Currier & Ives (1835–1907).
As shipping technology changed, Buttersworth followed the new interest in recreational and racing sailing, specializing in this from the 1870s. Racing Yachts shows three sleek yachts speeding past a slower commercial packet ship. Packet ships were the first to sail between American and European ports on regular schedules, and were the forerunners of twentieth-century ocean liners. Both kinds of ship thus reflect modernist trends. The sharp angles and billowed sails of the racing yachts create a dynamic image, juxtaposed with the larger and slower packet ship. In this modern industrial age, speed was a new form of beauty. Sailing for pleasure rather than strictly for commerce still pitted humans against nature, and his painting evokes the confidence and excitement of this era, which was exemplified by the America’s Cup competition.
