William Pierce Stubbs (1842-1909) Lived/Active: Maine and Massachusetts

Schooner “Sky Lark”
Signed and dated (l.l.): Stubbs 1879
Oil on canvas
Excellent untouched original condition with old varnish, appears to retain the original walnut frame with gilt liner.
A superb example by William Pierce Stubbs, who was best known for his ship paintings. This broadside portrait of Sky Lark, identified by its pennant, is shown flying an American flag and Navy Jack, suggesting a naval or coast guard connection. Visible beyond the bow of the ship is Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, the first and oldest light station in the United States.
Born in coastal Maine to a sea captain and shipmaster father, Stubbs became the master of his father’s ship in 1863, a post he held for ten years. He was self-taught as an artist, painting his first ship portrait in 1871. By 1876 he was listed as a marine painter in the Boston city directory. He shared a studio with marine painter Wesley Webber and had studios variously in Boston, East Boston, and Charlestown. His paintings are held in the collections of numerous museums, including the Peabody Essex Museum, New York Historical Society, Butler Institute of American Art, The Mariner’s Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, Provincetown Museum, Beverly Historical Society, Philadelphia Marine Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution.