 | Raymond Agler Fine Arts |
|
Home |
|
Carl Bille (1815-1898). USS Mississippi, 1861. browse these categories for related items... All Items: Fine Art:Paintings:Oil:Europe: Pre 1900: item # 875314 Please refer to our stock # 2478A when inquiring.
Raymond Agler Fine Arts 16 Pleasant Street Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930 978-281-5048 Guest Book $9,500 |
|
|
| Oil on canvas, 12 x 18 inches, 17.5 x 23.5 inches with period frame, signed "Carl Bille '61" lower right. Both sides were woefully unprepared for the war that commenced with the fall of Fort Sumter, April 13, 1861. Lincoln immediately proclaimed a naval blockade, beginning the long cat-and-mouse game between Union blockaders and Confederate raiders and runners. This dramatic rendering of an American side-wheel 10-gun frigate undoubtedly depicts the Mississippi, the largest of the eight steam vessels operational at the time. Having already served as Admiral Perry's flagship in the "opening" of Japan, her extraordinary adventures were widely reported in the press at home and abroad. European fascination with the American naval conflict culminated in the battle between the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama, June 19,1864, off the port of Cherbourg. Witnessed by thousands from the shore, this event was captured by Edouard Manet, also using secondary sources. Bille has chosen a highly dramatic moment, the Union ship belching black smoke while getting up steam and coming about to challenge the 2 sailing ships on the horizon. | ||
|