An Incident of Whaling
Artist: William Bradford (American, 1823–1892)
Original Dimensions: 22" x 36"
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
About Artwork: (1880s) "Bradford began his career painting marine vessels in the whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts. He made seven expeditions to the Arctic regions during the 1860s, one of the first American artists to do so. Based on sketches and photographs made on site, his detailed seascapes record ships and their rigging as well as the light, color, and atmosphere of the dramatic, desolate environs. This view of a whaler trapped in ice floes was completed in Bradford’s New York studio, likely in the 1880s, when the American commercial whaling industry had long been in decline." - (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Panel content
Panel content