The Thomas Hunt and the America

James Bard

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A self-taught artist, Bard devoted his career to painting "portraits" of the steamboats and sailing ships that traversed the Hudson River and the waters surrounding Manhattan. He often received commissions from boat builders and operators. This rare double portrait represents his finest known work, featuring the steamboat Thomas Hunt and the yacht America—the latter having returned to New York from England after its celebrated victory in August 1851 in the first America’s Cup race. Bard captured the competition between sail and steam, celebrating the advances made in the design and engineering of these vessels.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art