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Collections: American Art: Foundering

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Foundering

At the top of the mast of the failing ship in this painting is an inverted flag of the Confederate States (two red and one white stripe, with a blue square and star for each of the Confederate states), the unofficial national flag of the Confederacy from 1861. Working in 1863, one of the most devastating years of the war, the artist James Hamilton appears to have predicted the impending failure of the secessionist effort.

Artist: James Hamilton, American, 1819-1878
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dates: 1863
Dimensions: 59 5/8 x 48 1/16 in. (151.5 x 122 cm)
Inscriptions: Inscribed verso: "Foundering' / Jas Hamilton / Philada 1863"
Collections: American Art
Museum Location: This item is on view in American Identities: A New Look, Everyday Life/A Nation Divided, 5th Floor
Accession Number: 55.139
Credit Line: Dick S. Ramsay Fund
Image: Overall, 55.139_acetate_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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