Henry Bacon - First Sight of Land [1877]

Henry Bacon - First Sight of Land [1877], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Late-nineteenth-century Americans' familiarity with modern tourism was abetted by the advent of regular transatlantic routes, faster and more comfortable vessels, and reduced fares. Here, Bacon (American, 1839 – 1912), who made many transatlantic crossings, tells a story of shipboard life on the luxurious French mail steamer the Péreire. The prominent mast indicates that even steam-powered liners used auxiliary sails to take advantage of good winds and reduce fuel consumption. The well-dressed young passenger, who has cast aside her tartan lap robe and book and risen from her chair, proclaims that women were venturing abroad in greater numbers during the 1870s than ever before to finish their education and prepare for marriage. Bacon offers only a fragmentary, open-ended narrative: because the book is a salmon-covered paperback associated with French publishers, the woman may be returning to America, yet her excitement suggests she is arriving in Europe.

[Oil on canvas, 73 x 50.5 cm]

Henry Bacon - Beach at Etretat [1881]

Henry Bacon (Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1839 – Cairo, March 13, 1912) was an American painter. During the American Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army and acted as a field artist while he served as a soldier within the 13th Massachusetts Infantry. Badly wounded at Bull Run, he was discharged on 19 December 1862. In 1864, he went to Paris, with his first wife Elizabeth Lord, to study figure painting. He was admitted to the National School of Fine Arts and was one of Alexandre Cabanel's scholars.