James Hamilton (American, 1819-1878) Burning Oil Well at Night
Hammer Price w/ BP
$12,200
| Lot #: 193 James Hamilton (American, 1819-1878) Burning Oil Well at Night |
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19th century. Unsigned. Oil on board. Giltwood frame. Catalog Note: Similar example - James Hamilton, Burning Oil Well at Night, near Rouseville, Pennsylvania, ca. 1861, oil on paperboard, 22 x 16 1/8 in. (55.9 x 40.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.50. Rouseville, Pennsylvania, lay within a few miles of Titusville and Pithole City, two of the most famous boomtowns in Pennsylvania's oil fields. From 1859 until after the Civil War, new gushers brought investors, cardsharps, saloons, and speculators into these rural settlements. As quickly as they grew, however, the towns collapsed, often from the effects of fires like the one shown here. In the 1860s, American industrialist John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) was in the thick of this oil boom, maneuvering to establish the Standard Oil Company. Rockefeller's investments in railroads and refineries would make him one of America's richest men, long after the wildcatters in the Pennsylvania fields had gone bust. |
| 18 1/2 x 12 1/4 in. |
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Provenance The estate of Ralph Rose, Derrick City, PA. |
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Auction Date Sep 25, 2025 |
Details:
James Hamilton was born in Ireland and was and active painter in Pennsylvania and California. He was a landscape and marine artist known for his vivid seascapes and coastal scenes. Inspired by J.M.W. Turner’s dramatic lighting effects, Hamilton became known as the "American Turner." He moved to the U.S. at age 15 and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. After a trip to England in 1854-1855 where he studied Turner’s work, he returned to Philadelphia and established himself as both an illustrator and painter, contributing to volumes like “Arctic Explorations” by Dr. Elisha Kent Kane. Hamilton’s most famous work, “The Sea at Atlantic City,” 1868, is considered one of the first American seascapes. In 1875, he attempted a global journey but died in San Francisco in 1878.
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