The Bard Brothers: Painting America Under Steam and Sail

Nineteenth-century Americans fixed on a new romantic icon: the steamboat. None were more fascinated by the ships than twin brothers John and James Bard, who began, in 1827 (at the age or 12), to produce a pictorial chronicle of the steamboat era. Working for owners, captains, ship builders, and anyone who would commission a portrait of a vessel, the self-taught artists produced thousands of stunning "naive" paintings that have long been prized by museums and collectors alike. This volume, which accompanies a traveling exhibition of paintings and drawings assembled by The Mariners' Museum of Newport News, Virginia, celebrates the brothers' unique achievement.