Jasper Francis Cropsey (American, 1823-1900) - Landscape, Near Greenwood Lake, N.J.

Oil on canvas
22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2cm)
Executed circa 1865.

Provenance

M.R. Schweitzer, New York, New York, 1974.
Freeman's, Philadelphia, sale of June 27, 2004, lot 90.
Acquired directly from the above sale.
The Estate of Angela Gross Folk, New Jersey.

Exhibition“19th Century American Topographic Painters,” Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, November 21, 1974-January 5, 1975, no. 33.

Literature19th Century American Topographic Painters, an exhibition catalogue, University of Miami, Cora Gables, 1974, p. 12 (illustrated).
Anthony Speiser et al., Jasper Francis Cropsey: Catalogue Raisonné: Works in Oil, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York; and Newington-Cropsey Foundation, New York, 2013, Vol. II, p. 24, no. 851 (illustrated as NCF 626)

Lot Essay

The present lot will be accompanied by a copy of a Letter of Authenticity written by Mr. Kenneth W. Maddox, dated May 10, 2004, in which the work is described as being included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of Cropsey's work.

Cropsey, a prominent figure of the Hudson River School, earned the nickname "The Painter of Autumn" for his frequent depictions of the season. But beyond grand vistas of the Hudson Valley, Cropsey found inspiration closer to home in the Greenwood Lake region, straddling the border between New Jersey and New York. It is here that the artist offered a more intimate version of autumn.

Cropsey's Greenwood Lake landscapes are characterized by a rich tapestry of color. He reveled in the fiery oranges, deep reds, and burnished yellows that transformed trees and foliage, often setting them against a backdrop of forested mountains or under a blush-colored sky, as in the present painting. As in his most compelling works, light serves a vital function; here, sun filters through the clouds, casting long shadows and illuminating the mirror-like surface of the water.

Cropsey's Greenwood Lake paintings were more than just picturesque panoramas. He regularly included figures–hunters with their dogs, families picnicking or, here, a man and his horse en route to a rustic cabin–which serve as counterpoints to the splendor of the season. These figures add a sense of scale and narrative, and are suggestive of a (seemingly) harmonious relationship between nature and culture. While Cropsey's larger-scale works celebrate the vastness of the American landscape, works like Landscape, Near Greenwood Lake, N.J. extol the serene beauty of a region that fascinated him throughout his career.