Lot 2579 Dα

The present veduta depicts a panoramic view of the famous Bay of Valparaíso on the Pacific coast of Chile. Whilst the northern mountain range is still kissed by the pinkish light of the dying sun, the harbour town beside the bay is already submerged in evening shadow. The many ships moored before the shore point towards the town's historic significance. Founded in 1544 by Juan Bautista Pastene, Valparaíso experienced an unprecedented economic boom in the early 19th century, and was at that time considered the most significant port on the West Coast of the Americas alongside San Francisco. In 2003 the UNESCO awarded the historic centre of the town, with its colourful house facades, World Heritage Site status.
The painter of this view, Thomas Somerscales, had a strong connection to Valparaíso. Son of an English captain, he worked as a teacher on various British Navy warships as of 1892. Somerscales contracted malaria in the summer of 1869, which forced him to depart his ship and the navy in Valparaíso, where he remained until 1892. Alongside continuing his work as a teacher, he also devoted himself to landscape and marine painting. He was awarded the silver medal at the 1872 international art exhibition in Santiago de Chile. He later exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. Somerscales returned to England in 1892, but later returned to Valparaíso several times, sometimes for longer periods.