Henry Hudson Runs the Half Moon Aground…
oil on board
h. 60-1/2 w. 42 in.
overall: 80-1/2 x 59 in. (frame)
a whimsical, homoerotic depiction of Hudson surrounded by half-nude men on the palisades, titled 'Henry Hudson Runs the Half Moon Aground / Gentrification of Hudson Commences', with two medallions in the upper corners, one reading 'Et Decus Et Pretium Recti' ('both the ornament and reward of virtue'), the other 'Caveat Emptor' ('Let the buyer beware'), no apparent signature, mounted in a period Gothic-Revival carved, painted, and gilded wood frame
Provenance:The estate of J.D. McClatchy (1945-2018), American poet, librettist, literary critic, and former president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY