The Battle of the USS "Kearsarge" and the CSS "Alabama"

Gallery 252, European Art 1850-1900, second floor (Toll Gallery)

Main Building

The Battle of the USS "Kearsarge" and the CSS "Alabama"

1864

Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883)

Manet's first known seascape is an imaginative depiction of an American Civil War naval battle fought off the coast of France, near Cherbourg, on June 19, 1864. In the distance, the C.S.S. Alabama, a scourge of Union shipping, sinks by her stern, clouds of smoke arising from a direct hit to her engines by the U.S.S. Kearsarge, which is mostly obscured from view. This picture was first displayed in the window of Alfred Cadart's print shop in Paris in July 1864, demonstrating Manet's quick response to a sensational and recent news event.

Gallery 252, European Art 1850-1900, second floor (Toll Gallery)

Object Details

Title:

The Battle of the USS "Kearsarge" and the CSS "Alabama"

Date:

1864

Artist:

Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

54 1/4 × 50 3/4 inches (137.8 × 128.9 cm) Framed: 68 7/8 × 65 5/8 × 4 3/4 inches (174.9 × 166.7 × 12.1 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

Accession Number:

Cat. 1027

Geography:

Made in France, Europe

Provenance

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Gallery 252, European Art 1850-1900, second floor (Toll Gallery)

Main Building

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