Beschreibung:

William Aiken Walker (American/South Carolina, 1839-1921) "Biloxi's General View after Storm of October 2nd, 1893" oil on canvas signed lower left, pencil-titled and inscribed "Painted on Oct. 5th, 93 whilst ...on the way to New Orleans on Tug Julius-Elbert." Framed. 12" x 20", framed 16" x 24" Literature: To be included in John Fowler's forthcoming catalogue raisonne. Notes: Without a national weather service in place, the "Great October Storm" was only first observed on September 27, 1893, in the northwest Caribbean Sea. As the storm moved to the northwest, it quickly strengthened into a hurricane. On the morning of October 2nd, the hurricane struck southeast Louisiana destroying the small fishing community of Cheniere Caminada, west of Grand Isle. After crossing the northern Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane advanced to the Mississippi coast in the evening hours causing considerable damage. On October 6th, 1893, The Atlanta Constitution newspaper reported the aftermath of the "Great October Storm": "At Biloxi nothing escaped the fury of the elements. On every side could be seen the wrecks of boats, piers and bathhouses… Out of more than 100 boats on the front bay little and big, only three rode the storm safely, and the beach is strewn with wrecks of all descriptions. On the back bay only one or two weathered the gale. Not a single wharf is standing on either the front or back bay." A frequent visitor to Biloxi, William Aiken Walker was well acquainted with the coastal community. Walker personally witnessed the storm's destruction as he traveled by tugboat to New Orleans. He painted the view of the bay just days after the hurricane, where he accurately documented the damaged including an uprooted tree, beached boat on the shore and the remnants of the wharves. The artist also included signs of recovery with a surviving lighthouse and the steamboat and sailing boats in the distance.