Thomas Ayres (artist)
Thomas Almond Ayres (c. 1816-1858) was a
St. Paul, Minnesota[1] (then still part of Wisconsin Territory). In 1849, he went to California, embarking from New York on the steamship Panama on February 4. As the announcement of gold was only made by President Polk the previous December, this made Ayres among the first to head to the gold fields. He arrived in August, and immediately set out to the diggings. Like many fortune seekers, he was unlucky; however, he spent his time constructively, sketching many gold rush and other California scenes, eventually earning a reputation as a landscape artist.[2]
In 1855, the publisher and promoter
Daily Alta California.[4] In addition to publishing in the magazine, Ayres converted his sketches into a popular panorama displayed at McNulty's Hall in Sacramento.[2]
In 1856, Ayres returned to Yosemite Valley and recorded several more sketches. These he took back east himself and exhibited them at the
American Art Union in New York. As a result, Harper & Brothers commissioned him to return to California to gather images for them to publish. In the winter of 1857–1858, after stopping over in San Francisco, Ayres traveled around southern California gathering material. On April 26, 1858, as he was headed back to San Francisco, the passenger ship he was in sunk in a storm off Point Dume. Everyone on the ship perished, and all of the sketches Ayres had brought with him were lost.[2]
The quality of his work as art is not generally considered high,[2] but since his work is historically important and the originals are rare, these works are considered to be very significant.[5]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Ayres.
- ^ Driesbach 1998.
- ^ a b c d e f Van Nostrand 1941.
- ^ Huntley-Smith 2004, p. 66.
- ^ Alta California 1856.
- ^ Ask Art 2013.
- Attributions
- Driesbach, Janice T.; Jones, Harvey L.; Holland, Katherine Church (1998). Art of the Gold Rush. Berkeley: Oakland Museum of California, Crocker Art Museum & University of California Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN 0-520-21431-5.
- Van Nostrand, Jeanne (Sep 1941). "Thomas A. Ayres: Artist-Argonaut of California". California Historical Society Quarterly. 20 (3). University of California Press: 275–279. JSTOR 25160951.
- Huntley-Smith, Jen A. (Apr 2004). "'Such Is Change in California': James Mason Hutchings and the Print Metropolis, 1854-1862". American Antiquarian Society Proceedings. 114 (1). American Antiquarian Society: 35–85. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
- "A Trip to the Yohamite Valley". Daily Alta California. San Francisco. August 6, 1856. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
- "Thomas Almond Ayres". Ask Art. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
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