For twenty years, James Bard and his twin brother, John, specialized in portraits of the steamships that traveled up the Hudson from their home port of New York City. After John’s death in 1856, James continued painting steamboats in the same characteristic manner. Ships painted by the Bards are almost always shown from the port side and the details of construction are almost always exact as the painters worked from plans. The steamship John L. Hasbrouck was built in 1864 and was used between Stuyvesant and New York City and later as the Poughkeepsie night boat.