Dan Ford
The Battle of Quebec, 1999
Dan Ford (American), The Battle of Quebec, 1999, oil on canvas, 34 x 50 in. Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School, 2002.8.
"The notion for this painting arose from my commissioned pet portraits, which I paint in the manner of the 18th-century English landscape and 'sporting' genres. At the time, the portraits related to the budding homebuilding trend towards 'McMansions,' which played in part upon the wistful American fantasies concerning aristocracy. But then one day I thought—what if I get a client who actually was 'to the Manor born?' To achieve for such a client the status of instant family heirloom, only the appearance of their pet in a history painting would do!"—Dan Ford