Arctic Seascape

Provenance
Thomas F. Farb and Stacy Valhouli, Boston, Massachusetts, 2002 Vose Galleries,
Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, 2006, acquired from above Private collection,
acquired from above
Sale, Christie’s, New York, New York, January 23, 2025, lot 363, from above

Exhibited
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, Sterling and Francine Clark Art
Institute, Arctic Diary: The Paintings and Photographs of William Bradford, February 17–May 5, 2002

Literature
Adam Greenhalgh, The Not So Truthful Lens: William Bradford’s Arctic Regions, in Richard C. Kugler,
William Bradford: Sailing Ships & Arctic Seas (Massachusetts: New Bedford Whaling Museum,
Seattle: The University of Washington Press, 2003), 74, fig. 3.

Related Works 
Whalers Working through the Ice on the Coast of Greenland under the Midnight Sun, oil on canvas, 23¾ × 39¾
inches; Denver Art Museum, Colorado
An Arctic Summer: Boring Through the Pack in Melville Bay, 1871, oil on canvas, 51¾ x 78 inches, signed and
dated lower right; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
Note: This work was likely created around 1869, when William Bradford embarked on his seventh and
final Arctic expedition. Regarding the Arctic landscape, Bradford wrote: “The deep blue of an Arctic
sky was reflected in the water so strangely flecked with indescribably icy forms. None of the bergs were
very large, but no two were alike…as some lofty berg passed between us and the sun, its crest would be
bordered with an orange-colored halo, in which sometimes prismatic shades appeared.” This work
masterfully captures the shimmering effects of light and the vivid colors that fascinated Bradford,
showcasing his keen perception and delicate expression of the Arctic landscape in both words and paint.