Battle of Lake Erie

Date1825-1850

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsFramed: 37 13/16 × 45 7/8 × 2 1/4 in. (96 × 116.5 × 5.7 cm) Sight: 29 1/4 × 37 1/2 in. (74.3 × 95.3 cm)

Object numberN0317.1961

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextImages of American heroes played an important role in shaping a national identity, and folk artists often looked to popular published engravings for inspiration. The unknown artist of "Battle of Lake Erie", who may have intended to sell this work or may have wanted a patriotic scene in his or her own home, copied this composition from a print based on a painting by Philadelphia artist Thomas Birch. The moment depicted was a critical one; as the famous sea battle of September 10, 1813 was nearly lost, Commander Oliver Hazard Perry left his shattered flagship to continue the fight in another vessel. Perry's victory was crucial to America defeating Great Britain in the War of 1812, and his tenacity in gaining that victory was widely celebrated.
Exhibition History“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.

On View

On view