Lot Essay
RELATED WORKS:
Valle della Molina, Amalfi, watercolor on paper, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina
Amalfi, Valley of the Molina, oil on paper, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
Throughout his career William Stanley Haseltine was attracted to sites that were celebrated for their picturesque qualities. The southern coast of Italy provided many splendid locales for painting and sketching, and over the course of his career the artist made repeated visits to the area.
Haseltine first encountered the spectacular scenery around Amalfi in 1858 while travelling in Italy on a sketching tour that also included visits to Capri and Sorrento. While touring again in Italy in 1871 it is possible that Haseltine returned to Amalfi in April, though records of the artist's precise whereabouts are lacking.
For this work Haseltine selected the site known as Valle dei Molini, or the Valley of the Mills. The valley, with its high cliffs and rushing streams, was located inland from the coast of Amalfi, and was filled with abandoned ruins of paper mills. Contemporary guidebooks noted the picturesque quality of the valley, and its natural beauty most likely inspired the artist to visit the site. The towering cliffs and bold geometries of the ruined mills provided ideal subject matter for the artist. Haseltine carefully observed the rugged quality of the landscape and the bright southern light, heightening its effects with stark contrasts of light and dark.
Valle della Molina, Amalfi, watercolor on paper, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina
Amalfi, Valley of the Molina, oil on paper, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
Throughout his career William Stanley Haseltine was attracted to sites that were celebrated for their picturesque qualities. The southern coast of Italy provided many splendid locales for painting and sketching, and over the course of his career the artist made repeated visits to the area.
Haseltine first encountered the spectacular scenery around Amalfi in 1858 while travelling in Italy on a sketching tour that also included visits to Capri and Sorrento. While touring again in Italy in 1871 it is possible that Haseltine returned to Amalfi in April, though records of the artist's precise whereabouts are lacking.
For this work Haseltine selected the site known as Valle dei Molini, or the Valley of the Mills. The valley, with its high cliffs and rushing streams, was located inland from the coast of Amalfi, and was filled with abandoned ruins of paper mills. Contemporary guidebooks noted the picturesque quality of the valley, and its natural beauty most likely inspired the artist to visit the site. The towering cliffs and bold geometries of the ruined mills provided ideal subject matter for the artist. Haseltine carefully observed the rugged quality of the landscape and the bright southern light, heightening its effects with stark contrasts of light and dark.