Lot Essay
Jasper Francis Cropsey was born in 1823 on his father's farm in Staten Island, New York at a time when American landscape painting was gaining acceptance. Although formally trained in architecture, Cropsey quickly turned his attention to landscape painting. Late in his career, in June of 1885, Cropsey moved to Hastings-on-Hudson in New York. He and his wife settled at "Ever Rest," their home overlooking the Hudson River and across the way the towering Palisades.
Although landscape painting in the United States towards the end of the century had moved away from the Hudson River School style and was becoming increasingly influenced by the Barbizon School and Impressionism, at "Ever Rest" Cropsey continued to paint his landscapes from nature. Winter at Hastings-on-Hudson depicts the view from Cropsey's studio window. He "employed the format of the fixed view rather than the accidental glance. His elements are usually firmly located in space and clearly described, though blurred at greater distances by atmosphere. The changing perceptual awareness of the later nineteenth century did not affect Cropsey's basic way of painting." (W.S. Talbot, Jasper F. Cropsey 1823-1900, Washington, DC, 1970, p. 46)
In Winter at Hastings-on-Hudson, Cropsey painted the "fixed view" that his studio window offered him:
An oil painting of the Hudson in winter was reported in the Hastings studio in 1894. It depicted the river filled with
drift ice which had become cemented together. Distant hills were covered with snow and the foreground was animated with
snow birds. Strong sunlight made the ice opalescent and reminded the writer of Venice as painted by Turner. He
continued, '...it is Cropsey at such degree of perfection that
one marvels how the master of autumn scenes can become an expert at depicting winter too.' (W.S. Talbot, Jasper F. Cropsey 1823-1900, New York, 1977, p. 241)
Cropsey continued to live and paint at "Ever Rest" until his death in 1900. Winter at Hastings-on-Hudson was one of several works painted in his later years that in its size and attention to detail expressed Cropsey's love for the nature around him and his desire to capture the beauty of the American landscape.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work, which is being prepared by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, Hastings-on-Hudson.
Although landscape painting in the United States towards the end of the century had moved away from the Hudson River School style and was becoming increasingly influenced by the Barbizon School and Impressionism, at "Ever Rest" Cropsey continued to paint his landscapes from nature. Winter at Hastings-on-Hudson depicts the view from Cropsey's studio window. He "employed the format of the fixed view rather than the accidental glance. His elements are usually firmly located in space and clearly described, though blurred at greater distances by atmosphere. The changing perceptual awareness of the later nineteenth century did not affect Cropsey's basic way of painting." (W.S. Talbot, Jasper F. Cropsey 1823-1900, Washington, DC, 1970, p. 46)
In Winter at Hastings-on-Hudson, Cropsey painted the "fixed view" that his studio window offered him:
An oil painting of the Hudson in winter was reported in the Hastings studio in 1894. It depicted the river filled with
drift ice which had become cemented together. Distant hills were covered with snow and the foreground was animated with
snow birds. Strong sunlight made the ice opalescent and reminded the writer of Venice as painted by Turner. He
continued, '...it is Cropsey at such degree of perfection that
one marvels how the master of autumn scenes can become an expert at depicting winter too.' (W.S. Talbot, Jasper F. Cropsey 1823-1900, New York, 1977, p. 241)
Cropsey continued to live and paint at "Ever Rest" until his death in 1900. Winter at Hastings-on-Hudson was one of several works painted in his later years that in its size and attention to detail expressed Cropsey's love for the nature around him and his desire to capture the beauty of the American landscape.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work, which is being prepared by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, Hastings-on-Hudson.