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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Misty Morning
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Misty Morning

Artifact IDMO 1948.41.10
Object Type Painting
Artist (British-American, 1805 - 1898)
Datemid 19th Century
Mediumwatercolor on paper
Dimensionsframe H 2 1/8 in x W 28 5/8 in x D 3/4 in (5.4 cm x 72.7 cm x 1.9 cm )

Physical DescriptionA gouache watercolor painting of a U.S. warship in a harbor. It depicts an angled view of the two-masted ship, sails unfurled, sitting in the tranquil waters of a harbor on a misty morning. The ship is evidently firing a salute. In the left foreground is a point of land with figures and a small sailing boat pulled up on the shore. Two figures are seen in a rowboat in the right foreground. Additional sailing vessels are visible in the background. The painting is signed and titled by the artist in the lower left: Misty Morning / G. R. Bonfield.

The painting is matted, glazed, and framed in 3/8" black wood frame with gilt inner trim.
Historical NoteFranklin Roosevelt was an avid, lifelong collector of prints, engravings, and paintings illustrating the history of the United States Navy. He purchased this painting from the Bayles and Peters sale at the American Art Association Sale in New York City in 1926 for $20. The painting is one of ten maritime pictures (MO 1948.41.1-10) that had hung in FDR's New York office at the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland when he was a Vice President of the Company from 1920-1928. They stayed there until FDR sent them in 1933 to Basil O'Connor as a gift. O'Connor, in turn, presented the pictures to the FDR Library in 1947.

Daniel Basil O'Connor (1892-1972) was a longtime friend and political adviser to FDR. He was Roosevelt's law partner from 1925 to 1933, and later served as president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis-March of Dimes drive against poliomyelitis.


Additional Details
Credit LineGift of Basil O'Connor
Use Restriction StatusUnrestricted
CopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
Not on view
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