William Pierce Stubbs (American, 1842 - 1909), Portrait of the USS Kensington

Oil on canvas (lined), signed at lower left, presented in a Foster Brothers of Boston giltwood frame, labeled.

Stretcher size 24 1/4 x 36 3/4 in.; Frame dimensions 29 x 40 3/4 in.

Private Collection from an Equestrian Farm, Moore County, North Carolina

William Pierce Stubbs was born in Orrington, Maine, the son of a shipmaster, and likely served as master of his father’s vessel from 1863 to 1873. This firsthand maritime experience informed his work, and he painted what is believed to be his first ship portrait in 1871. By 1876, he was listed as a marine painter in the Boston city directory. Stubbs shared a studio with marine painter Wesley Webber and later maintained studios in Boston, East Boston, and Charlestown. While his early works depicted genre scenes of seaside life in Bucksport and the surrounding area, he became best known for finely detailed ship portraits in the tradition of 19th-century American marine painting, including depictions of the whaling fleets of New Bedford and Nantucket.

Following the deaths of his wife and daughter, Stubbs suffered from severe manic depression and a marked decline in mental health. He was hospitalized for several years beginning in 1899 and remained institutionalized until his death in 1909. Today, his paintings are held in numerous museum collections, including the Mariner’s Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, Beverly Historical Society, Philadelphia Marine Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, Cape Ann Museum, the Bostonian Society, and the Smithsonian Institution.

New stretchers; allover stable craquelure; a few slight fleabite losses (paint is stable from lining).