View of Boston Harbor

Object Details

Object Essay

The inscription may be taken as an autograph since Salmon’s own catalogue of his paintings from 1828 to 1840 has the following entry: “No. 764. 7 Day. 24 by 16. View in Boston Harbor. Ship cuming in. Solld auction in Boston, 1833. $38.” One may be amused by the idiosyncratic spelling, or bemused by the $38 price, but surely astonished by the information that Salmon had painted 764 works by 1832. In fact, this remarkable artist “painted over a thousand pictures in his known career, and over four hundred of them in Boston.”^{1_{Wilmerding, Marine Painting, 88.}} This painting took him seven days to finish.       

Born in Whitehaven, County Cumberland, England, in 1775, Salmon arrived in Liverpool in 1806 as an accomplished artist—probably self-taught, since nothing is known of his training. He painted in England and Scotland until 1828, when he emigrated to America. He settled in Boston, and painted indefatigably until 1840 when age slowed him down. He had returned to England by mid-1842; his death was reported in 1844.^{2_{Ibid., 88–101, summarizing the known facts of Salmon’s life, including his baptism (November 5, 1775) and the notice in a Boston exhibition catalogue (June 1844) that he was “Deceased.”}}      

View of Boston Harbor is notable for the breadth and openness that Salmon achieved in a small format. Although there is considerable attention to such details as the ship’s rigging, he created an overall effect of large forms well-composed and convincingly set in an atmospheric space. In the background, Governor’s Island marks the entrance of Boston’s inner harbor. As the artist noted, the ship is “cuming in.”         

In 1831, Salmon had purchased a boat the better to observe the passing scene of maritime commerce in Boston Harbor.^{3_{Ibid., 95.}} To what good effect he used his new freedom is apparent from this painting. Instead of presenting his habitual spatial sequence of shoreline, figures, boats, and background, Salmon put himself and the viewer into the action. The low viewpoint conveys a sensation of immediacy, which is heightened by the nearness of the small sailboat at the left, a motif to which we are further united by the dark band of shadow across the foreground. The modesty of this boat at rest, sails being furled—contrasts beautifully with the sweeping grandeur of the large ship.       

Salmon introduced the rich English tradition of marine painting—with its expressive brushwork, bold forms, and command of atmosphere—to America, profoundly influencing the development of an American tradition.

William Kloss

Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.