William Henry Buck
(Norwegian/Louisiana, 1840-1888)

"Sunrise Over Bayou St. John"

oil on canvas
signed lower right.
Period frame with artist and title plaque.
18" x 30", framed 27" x 38-3/4"

Provenance: Purchased from the artist; thence by descent in the family; to be sold for the benefit of Griffith Homeplace Museum, Terrell, Texas.

Notes: The Norwegian-born painter William Henry Buck arrived in New Orleans in 1869, and studied with prominent artists of the day including Richard Clague and Andres Molinary.
Buck became an active member of the city's emerging art community of the late 19th century and achieved recognition for his plein-air paintings of the Louisiana landscape.
In 1708, Native American Indians shared with Jean-Baptiste Bienville that Bayou St. John, which they called Bayouk Choupic, was a natural portage to the Mississippi River. Because it offered a route from the lake to the river, Bayou St. John played an essential role in the founding of New Orleans. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Carondelet Canal was dug which connected the back of the city with the Bayou St. John.
In the mid-19th century, Marie Laveau was known to perform voodoo ceremonies including inviting the public to St. John's Eve ritual on Bayou St. John.
In the painting "Sunrise Over Bayou St. John", Buck captures the break of day, as the sun rises over the bayou filled with Spanish moss-draped live oak trees.

Previously relined; toning of the varnish; surface abrasions along top edge; signs of inpainting upper and mid right and mid left (sky); inpainting in mid left center (leaves and branches). Frame with areas of loss along edges, areas of discoloration and separations in corners.