FRAME SIZE: 23-5/16" (length) x 15-3/8" (height) x 3-1/8" (depth); OBJECT SIZE: 18" (length) x 10" (height)

SHORT DESCRIPTION: Painting, oil on canvas, showing the yachts Magic and Gracie in competition during the New York Yacht Club regatta on June 22, 1871. Castle Garden on the tip of Manhattan can be seen in the background at the left and Castle William is in the background at the right.

NOTES: Magic, which had won the America's Cup in 1870, is shown flying the private signal of J. Lester Wallack.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Text from "Ship, Sea & Sky, The Marine Art of James Edward Buttersworth" by Richard B. Grassby (pictured on pages 88-89), Plate 25: The setting is identified by Castle Garden on the left and Castle Williams on Governors Island on the right. Here Buttersworth uses horizontal bans of light on the water and a diagonal shaft of light from a concealed sun to mark off space and link the competing yachts. The vessels are separated by the water over which they skim but are linked by physical tension, by a shared direction of wind and wave. Visual analogies are provided by highlights of the same pigment. The flags on the ship echo those on the shore, and the colors of the leading yacht echo those of Castle Garden. Different areas of color focus the action. The consistency of the clouds is conveyed by a wash of wet thin paint that was allowed to run, and their mass is suggested by tonal contrasts, which range from pink and orange near the sun to many shades of blue and gray in the storm center and pale blue and yellow in the patch of clear sky. A gradual transition occurs in the water from gray to green and blue tones. Buttersworth used a limited number of pigments, but his wide spectrum of high-keyed tones gives diversity to his color scheme.

VESSEL HISTORY:
The schooner Magic (84.6' x 20.1' x 6.0'; 46.77 tons) was formerly the sloop Madgie, built in 1856 by Thomas Byerly & Son, at Philadelphia and lengthened in 1857 by R. F. Loper of Philadelphia. In 1859 she was rigged as a schooner. In 1869 she was rehabilitated by David Carll of City Island, New York, for Franklin Osgood and renamed Magic.
Gracie was a shallow centerboard sloop designed by Abraham A. Schank. It was launched in 1868. Originally 6-'3" in overall length, it was lengthened in 1869 by two feet, and again in 1874 to 72'9". In 1879 it was completely rebuilt by David Carll to 80' overall length. According to the July 1886 issue of Outing magazine, Gracie's first owner was Mr. William Voorhis, followed by Wm. Krebs, John R. Waller, and the owner in July 1886 was Joseph P. Earls.