Lot 356: Horace Bundy (American, 1814-1883) Oil Painting

Horace Bundy (American, 1814-1883) Oil Painting. Attributed to the artist by family history and applied brass label on the front of the painting. The early 19th century oil on canvas portrait of a gentleman has some restoration UV light inspection shows some touch-up on the face in the dark background and on his hand. The painting is not relined. Measures 30 inches high by 24.8 inches wide. Frame measures 35 inches high by 30 inches. From AskArt: Horace Bundy---painter of portraits, genre, and animals---was born on July 22, 1814 in Hardwick, VT and died in 1883 in Concord, NH. He was basically a self-taught, itinerant artist who started his career decorating sleighs and then went on to painting portraits of northern New Englanders. As many artists of his day, Bundy went to live and work in the new, thriving industrial city of Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1837, just one year after Lowell was incorporated as a city, Bundy married Louisa Lockwood. A few years after their marriage the Bundys moved to Springfield, VT and lived in a house built for them by Louisa's father. In 1842 Horace became a licensed Adventist preacher. To support a wife and eight children, he traveled around the New England area during the 1840s and 1850s, mainly Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, preaching and painting. The reverse side of Bundy's portraits usually bears his signature, subject, and date. Very often Bundy included the place where the picture was painted. The information he provided has been a great source for chronicling his travels. It is known that during the 1840s and 1850s Bundy visited Claremont, Nashua, Hancock, and Fitzwilliam, NH; Townsend and Springfield, VT; and Winchendon, MA. In 1863 he was appointed pastor of the Second Advent Church in Lakeport, NH. During the 1870s he only painted a few portraits of his family members using photographs as reference. Bundy made a painting trip to Jamaica in 1883 and shortly after his return to Concord, NH, he died of typhus. 109 paintings by Horace Bundy are listed with the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. His work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; the Danbury Scott-Fanton Museum and Historical Society in Danbury, CT; the Londonderry Historical Society in Londonderry, NH; the Potsdam Public Museum in Potsdam, NY; the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT; the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT; the Springfield Art and Historical Society in Springfield, VT; the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, NJ; the Fitzburg Historical Society in Fitchburg, MA; the Essex County Historical Society in Elizabethtown, NY; the Northborough Historical Society in Northborough, MA; Smith College in Northampton, MA; the Heritage Plantation of Sandwich in Sandwich, MA; Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA; Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH; the Newark Museum in Newark, NJ; the Albany Institute of History and Art in Albany, NY; the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown, NY; the Nashua Historical Society in Nashua, NH; and the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA.

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