Oil on panel, c.1870, signed 'W. Bradford' lower right. 14 x 21 in., 25 x 32 in. (frame).Note: American romanticist painter William Bradford was from Massachusetts, where his early work focused on ship portraits in New Bedford Harbor. Later in his career, he became known for his Arctic seascapes. Bradford went on several Arctic expeditions and was the first American painter to capture scenes from this region. He was also a photographer, documenting his travels along with photographers John L. Dunmore and George Critcherson who accompanied him aboard the steamship Panther in 1869. Upon his return, Bradford spent two years in London where he published The Arctic Regions, a book of photographs taken on the expedition. Bradford was associated with the style and philosophy of the Hudson River School painters, adopting their techniques and interest in the way light plays on water. His compositions balanced a centrally lit subject with a frame of darker colors, focusing on the effects of light on the surfaces and the atmospherics of the subject. Sunset Over Water exemplifies Bradford's technique of using a panoramic perspective with gradations of light. In the 1870's, Bradford worked in San Francisco and travelled extensively, painting views of Yosemite, and the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas. This subject appears to be the American West, possibly Mt. Hood, or Mt. Ranier, which was also painted by Sanford Gifford. The frame is said to be by The House of Heydenryk, makers of fine frames in New York City since 1845.