Footnotes

Provenance
The artist.
Estate of the above, 1886.
Sale, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, February 20, 1890, sold by the above.
Frederick Layton, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, acquired from the above.
Robert B. Blaikie, New York.
Robert P. Blaikie, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, son of the above, by descent, 1992.
By descent to the present owner, daughter of the above, 2020.

Exhibited
New York, National Academy of Design, Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition, April 2-May 12, 1883, p. 19, no. 317. (as The Queen's Birthday, Port of New York, May 24th)
Munich, Germany, Glaspalast, International Art Exhibition, June-October 1883, p. 246, no. 1609. (as Der Hafen von New-York)

Literature
"Fine Arts.," The New York Herald, March 18, 1883, no. 17,009, p. 10.
"Fine Arts.," The New York Herald, March 31, 1883, no. 17,022, p. 3.
"Fine Arts.: The Annual Exhibition of Paintings at the Academy of Design.," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 7, 1883, vol. 44, no. 96, p. 1.
"Pictures: At the Fifty-Eighth Exhibition of the Academy of Design: South Gallery.," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 21, 1883, vol. 44, no. 110, p. 1.
"Fine Arts.: The American Contribution to the Munich International Exhibition," The New York Herald, May 19, 1883, no. 17,071, p. 5.
"New York Topics.: American Art at the Munich International Exhibition.," The Sun, May 23, 1883, p. 1.
G.F. Comfort, "Art.: The American Pictures for the International Exhibition at Munich.," Northern Christian Advocate, June 21, 1883, vol. XLIII, no. 25, no. 2203, p. 3.
"American Pictures at the Munich Exhibition.," The Art Amateur., July 1883, vol. IX, no. 2, p. 24.
"The Munich Exhibition.: First Notice.," The Art Amateur., October 1883, vol. IX, no. 5, p. 92.
"Obituary.: Arthur Quartley, N.A.," The New York Herald, May 20, 1886, no. 18,168, p. 6.
"Arthur Quartley.," The New York Times, May 21, 1886, vol. XXXV, no. 10,832, p. 4.
"Obituary.: Arthur Quartley.," New York Tribune, May 21, 1886, vol. XLVI, no. 14,432, p. 2.
"Sunday Gossip.," The Times, May 23, 1886, no. 3904, p. 4.
"Art and Artists.," Daily Bulletin Supplement, May 29, 1886, vol. LXII, no. 45, p. 1.
Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events of the Year, New York, 1887, vol. 11, p. 697.
"Sales at Auction.," The New York Herald, February 17, 1890, no. 19,537, p. 1.
"Special Notices.," New York Tribune, February 17, 1890, vol. XLIX, no. 15,800, p. 7.
"Sales at Auction.," The New York Herald, February 19, 1890, no. 19,539, p. 14.
"Special Notices.," New York Tribune, February 19, 1890, vol. XLIX, no. 15,802, p. 7.
"The Paintings of Arthur Quartley.," The New York Herald, February 20, 1890, no. 19,540, p. 6.
"The Quartley Sale a Success," The New York Herald, February 21, 1890, no. 19,541, p. 6.
"Art Notes.," The New York Times, March 10, 1890, vol. XXXIX, no. 12,022, p. 4.
J. W. Pattison, "The Layton Art Gallery of Milwaukee," Brush and Pencil, vol. 3, no. 4, January 1899, p. 212.
Layton Art Gallery, Catalogue of the Layton Art Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1921, p. 42, no. 95.

Painted on a monumental scale, Arthur Quartley's The Queen's Birthday, May 24th, Port of New York is a magnum opus in the artist's oeuvre that beautifully exhibits Quartley's mastered abilities as a marine painter. The present work depicts a busy day in New York Harbor with steam and mast ships traveling in and out of the port. The mast ships are decked with bright, colorful flags to celebrate the occasion of Queen Victoria's birthday, making the scene as much of an homage to Quartley's English heritage as it is of his American ties. The blue sky above with large masses of moving clouds and the choppy waters of the harbor are painted with natural, broad brush strokes and the imagery of the city and activity taking place on the various ships in the port are rendered in superb detail.

When The Queen's Birthday, May 24th, Port of New York was exhibited at The National Academy of Design in 1883 for the Fifty-Eighth Annual Exhibition, a reviewer for The Brooklyn Daily Eagle remarked "the best part of the work is the natural and broadly painted sky, with large masses of moving clouds floating across the heavens. It is doubtful whether Quartley ever obtained a stronger effect than he has brought out in this sky." ("Fine Arts.: The Annual Exhibition of Paintings at the Academy of Design.," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 7, 1883, vol. 44, no. 96, p. 1) The work then traveled to Germany that same year to represent America at the International Art Exhibition. Frederick Layton (1827-1919), the prominent English-American art collector and business magnate who made his fortune in the meat packing industry eventually acquired The Queen's Birthday, May 24th, Port of New York. Layton included the work in his collection exhibited at the Layton Art Gallery built by its namesake in 1888 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and recognized today as one of the earliest single-patron public art galleries in America.