.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
"It has been said that Chicago was a port long before it became a city" (Stobart and Davis, 1985, p. 155). A superb and immersive study of light and atmosphere, Chicago, 1876 captures a pivotal moment in the history of this industrious city’s thriving port. Painted by John Stobart, this picture captures the Port of Chicago, only five years into rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1871. Despite the destruction and devastation, the city’s port was rapidly transforming into one of the busiest and most strategically significant inland harbors in the world, demonstrating its resilience and progress.
Stobart portrays the entrance to the Chicago River at daybreak, looking west toward the Rush Street Bridge. His masterful handling of light and color lends an ethereal quality to the scene as the rising sun reflects off the sidewheel paddle steamer Wissahickon and the barkentine Parana, being guided by tugboat Diana. The Parana, a 153-foot vessel built in 1762 by Quayle & Martin of Cleveland, Ohio, anchors the composition alongside the steamer. The two head in opposite directions, evoking the constant ebb and flow of commerce along the river. At left, stacks of lumber are piled high on the docks, a major export from Wisconsin and Michigan forests, while warehouses, masts and sails crowd the sky. Through this resplendent depiction, Stobart transforms one of the busiest waterways into a vision of calm and quiet grandeur.
Born in Derby, England, John Stobart’s very beginnings are a story of unlikely survival: his mother died while seven months pregnant with him. Raised by his father alongside his older brother George, Stobart’s formative years were marked by local explorations, especially to Kedleston Hall, “a temple to the arts” where the prominent aristocratic Curzon family lived and housed their art collection. Its architecture and bucolic gardens left an impression on Stobart and nurtured his aesthetic sensibility. A pivotal moment in Stobart’s childhood occurred on a trip to Liverpool to visit relatives. Standing at Pier Head, he experience what he would later recall as a “life-changing day”, captivated by the frenetic energy of the docks and the striking silhouettes of vessels that crowded the Mersey. The maritime drama led to a fascination that would become central to his artistic identity.
Demonstrating early talent in drawing, Stobart enrolled at the Derby College of Art before earning a scholarship at the Royal Academy Schools in London. His education introduced him to John Constable and Jean Baptiste-Cammile Corot, artists whose mastery of atmosphere, luminosity and clarity profoundly influenced Stobart’s developing style. Their emphasis on the expressive qualities of light is unmistakably reflected in Chicago, 1876, and is a hallmark of Stobart’s celebrated career as one of the twentieth century’s preeminent painters of historic maritime scenes.
Stobart portrays the entrance to the Chicago River at daybreak, looking west toward the Rush Street Bridge. His masterful handling of light and color lends an ethereal quality to the scene as the rising sun reflects off the sidewheel paddle steamer Wissahickon and the barkentine Parana, being guided by tugboat Diana. The Parana, a 153-foot vessel built in 1762 by Quayle & Martin of Cleveland, Ohio, anchors the composition alongside the steamer. The two head in opposite directions, evoking the constant ebb and flow of commerce along the river. At left, stacks of lumber are piled high on the docks, a major export from Wisconsin and Michigan forests, while warehouses, masts and sails crowd the sky. Through this resplendent depiction, Stobart transforms one of the busiest waterways into a vision of calm and quiet grandeur.
Born in Derby, England, John Stobart’s very beginnings are a story of unlikely survival: his mother died while seven months pregnant with him. Raised by his father alongside his older brother George, Stobart’s formative years were marked by local explorations, especially to Kedleston Hall, “a temple to the arts” where the prominent aristocratic Curzon family lived and housed their art collection. Its architecture and bucolic gardens left an impression on Stobart and nurtured his aesthetic sensibility. A pivotal moment in Stobart’s childhood occurred on a trip to Liverpool to visit relatives. Standing at Pier Head, he experience what he would later recall as a “life-changing day”, captivated by the frenetic energy of the docks and the striking silhouettes of vessels that crowded the Mersey. The maritime drama led to a fascination that would become central to his artistic identity.
Demonstrating early talent in drawing, Stobart enrolled at the Derby College of Art before earning a scholarship at the Royal Academy Schools in London. His education introduced him to John Constable and Jean Baptiste-Cammile Corot, artists whose mastery of atmosphere, luminosity and clarity profoundly influenced Stobart’s developing style. Their emphasis on the expressive qualities of light is unmistakably reflected in Chicago, 1876, and is a hallmark of Stobart’s celebrated career as one of the twentieth century’s preeminent painters of historic maritime scenes.