William Holbrook Beard (New York, Kansas, 1824 – 1900)
Two exhibited oil on canvas paintings depicting two of the four seasons (Spring & Summer). Alexander Gallery label verso. Illustrated in the Alexander Gallery exhibition catalog (page 38).
The “Winter” scene of the four seasons painted by Beard was sold at Sotheby’s New York (5/23/07) for a price realized of $84,000 (see last image for reference). Housed in gilt/exhibition frames.
Sight Sizes: 16 x 24 in.
Overall Framed Sizes: 25 x 33 x 3 in.
William Holbrook Beard was a 19th-century American painter, specialized in animals, landscapes, portraits. Pupil of his older brother, John Henry Beard. William Beard worked as an itinerant portrait painter before joining his brother in New York in 1845 then establishing his own studio in Buffalo, NY in 1850. He traveled in Europe from 1856-58 before settling in New York City in 1860. Beard gained enormous success during the 1860s, when narrative, mythological, and fairytale paintings became treasured escapes from the cruel realities of the Civil War.