Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

Albert Ludwig Roccabiglieri Operti
Portrait Of Dr. Frederick A. Cook By Albert Operti

Circa 1900

$88,500
£67,392.69
€76,958.15
CA$124,353.42
A$136,439.40
CHF 71,869.72
MX$1,623,090.62
NOK 920,642.52
SEK 840,672.32
DKK 574,951.48

About the Item

Albert Ludwig Operti 1852-1927 Italian-American Portrait of Dr. Frederick Albert Cook Oil on canvas This highly rare portrait of the important Polar explorer, Dr. Frederick Albert Cook, is the work of American artist Albert Ludwig Operti. Renowned in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for his paintings of exploration, namely Arctic scenes, Operti was the only artist to accompany Robert Peary on his historic 1896 expedition to the North Pole. His works seldom find their way out of private collections, the largest of which can be found at the Explorers Club in New York, which was founded by Cook. In this contemplative oil painting, Operti captures Dr. Frederick A. Cook studying and dissecting a native bird during Robert Peary’s famed 1891-92 expedition of the Arctic in search of the North Pole. Depicted here in a fur hat and coat to protect against the frigid polar air, Cook served as the surgeon on several of Peary’s explorations. He befriended famed explorer Roald Amundsen and was a seasoned explorer in his own right. Both Cook and Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole first, and the debate about their divergent claims is still waged today. Albert Operti was born in Italy and educated in Britain. While part of Peary's expedition through Greenland in 1896, the artist executed hundreds of sketches and studies that would serve as the basis for many of his future works. He painted several special commissions for the New York Explorers Club, which was a primary patron of Operti until his death in 1927. Operti’s works are not often seen or exhibited, making this a rare opportunity to acquire both a stirring painting and an important piece of history. The painting was featured on the cover and discussed in Polar Priorities, the annual journal of the Frederick A. Cook Society, in the December 2006 edition, Volume 26. Circa 1900 Canvas: 43 1/2” high x 34 1/8” wide Frame: 51 1/2” high x 42” wide
  • Creator:
    Albert Ludwig Roccabiglieri Operti (1852 - 1927, Italian, American)
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1900
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 51.5 in (130.81 cm)Width: 42 in (106.68 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New Orleans, LA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 31-74601stDibs: LU18612549852

More From This Seller

View All
An Amusing Thought by Georges Croegaert
By Georges Croegaert
Located in New Orleans, LA
Georges Croegaert 1848-1923 Belgian An Amusing Thought Signed "Georges Croegaert Paris" (lower left) Oil on panel This oil on panel by Belgian artist Georges Croegaert is a rich ...
Category

19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

The Connoisseur By Georges Croegaert
By Georges Croegaert
Located in New Orleans, LA
Georges Croegaert 1848-1923 Belgian The Connoisseur Signed "Georges Croegaert Paris" (lower right) Oil on panel A Cardinal peers through a magnifying glass at gilded treasures in...
Category

19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

The Letter By Georges Croegaert
By Georges Croegaert
Located in New Orleans, LA
Georges Croegaert 1848-1923 Belgian The Letter Signed "Georges Croegaert Paris" (lower right) Oil on panel A cardinal pauses while composing a letter in this oil on panel by Belg...
Category

Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

The Musician
Located in New Orleans, LA
Alfred Weber 1859-1922 I Swiss The Musician Signed “Alfred Weber” (lower left) Oil on panel This work by Swiss ecclesiastical genre painter Alfred Weber, best known for his humorous and meticulously detailed paintings, features a cardinal enjoying his leisure time. Weber's talent for rendering opulent interiors and his keen sense of comic narrative are evident in this painting. The cardinal, looking blissfully content, sits in his lavish living space playing the violin, accompanied by a flutist. Alfred Charles Weber...
Category

Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Portrait Of A Gentleman By Frans Hals
Located in New Orleans, LA
Frans Hals 1582-1666 Dutch Portrait of a Gentleman (possibly Theodore Blevet) Oil on panel “Frans Hals is a colourist among the colourists...Frans Hals must have had twenty-seven blacks...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

The Letter
By Andrea Landini
Located in New Orleans, LA
A red-robed cardinal chuckles at the letter in his hand in this oil on canvas by the Italian painter Andrea Landini. The vibrantly hued piece illustrates the artist’s genius at rendering charming narratives in remarkable detail. Entitled The Letter, the work is a superb example of Landini's technical virtuosity — from the finely carved and upholstered chair to the neoclassical painting in the background, every detail is meticulously depicted. Such works satirizing the clergy would have been severely censured just a generation earlier. Yet, by the time Landini picked up the brush, the European public had grown discontent with the hypocrisy of the clergy, many of whom enjoyed lavish lifestyles. Cardinal paintings such as this became highly popular during the period, and Landini emerged alongside Georges Croegaert, Marcel Brunery and Jehan Georges Vibert as the leading painters of the genre. Born in Florence in 1847, Andrea Landini trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, first under the animal painter Riccardo Pasquini and later with religious painter Antonio Ciseri...
Category

Late 19th Century Other Art Style Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

Nick Todhunter - Contemporary Oil, Portrait of Robert Brough
Located in Corsham, GB
Nick Todhunter After John Singer Sargent, Contemporary, Oil on canvas. A head and shoulders portrait of Scottish painter, Robert Brough. Brough's life was cut tragically short at the...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Neville Stephen BULWER-LYTTON, Portrait , Oil on canvas
Located in PARIS, FR
Neville Stephen BULWER-LYTTON (1879-1951) Portrait Oil on canvas Annotation on reverse 80 x 60 cm without frame Grandson of the famous British novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-18...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Attrib. Franz Seraph von Lenbach (1836-1904) - Portrait of a German Gentleman
Located in Corsham, GB
A fine portrait attributed to the German artist Franz Seraph von Lenbach (1836-1904). Using his favoured technique, the Venetian method, Lenbach has rendered the figure in rich depth...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Study of Man - Oil Paint attributed by Marcello Dragonetti - Late 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Study of man is an original artwork realized in the late 19th Century and attributed to the painter Marcello Dragonetti. Mixed colored oil paintig on canvas. Titled and signature ...
Category

19th Century Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

PORTRAIT OF HAROLD STERNER
Located in Portland, ME
Sterner, Albert (American. 1863-1946). PORTRAIT OF HAROLD STERNER. Charcoal and pastel on paper, not dated, but 1912, as the subject is stated to be aged 17. Signed, lower right. 16 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed to 26 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches. In very good condition. Albert Sterner was born in England, and studied in Paris. He worked as a magazine illustrator, but is best known for his paintings and prints. Harold Sterner (American, 1895-1976). Architect, painter; New York, N.Y. Born 1895, died 1976...
Category

1910s Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel

Portrait of Man - Painting by Francesco Settimj - 1933
Located in Roma, IT
Oil on canvas mounted on board, realized by Francesco Settimj in 1933. Hand signed and dated lower left. Good condition.
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil