JAMES BARD | THE ALBANY

Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York;

Skinner Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, American & European Paintings & Prints, September 2002, sale 2154, lot 503;

Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. 

Of the many Hudson River steamboat lines, the Hudson River Day Line was the most prominent and dependable. Known for their speed and elegance, the Day Line promoted their steamboats as “strictly first-class no freight.” A pair of steamboats made regular nine-hour trips from Albany to New York City six days a week, with one steamboat traveling upriver at the same time the other was traveling downriver. In 1879, the Hudson River Day Line owner Alfred Van Santvoord and his partner expanded their business, bringing in additional investors, and launching The Albany, built by Harlan & Hollingworth in 1880, the same year Bard painted her. The first iron steamboat of the Hudson River Line, The Albany was described in the Lake George and Lake Champlain 1880 guidebook as having spacious cabins finished in highly polished woods, handsomely paneled, and furnished luxuriously with statuary and paintings by celebrated artists. The dining room located on the main deck allowed travelers to enjoy the pleasant views of the American river over the course of dinner as well as listen to the orchestra.