Lot Essay
According to James L. Yarnall in a letter dated December 23, 1991, this work is a long-lost watercolor which was recorded in the collection of La Farge's friend, the architect and editor Russell Sturgis. Sturgis, an architect by training, had been friendly with the artist since the 1870s. Beginning in 1879, La Farge helped Sturgis purchase drawings and watercolors from his inventory that he felt to be particularly important. After 1890, when he became an editor for Scribner's Magazine, Sturgis provided La Farge with numerous opportunities to publish art criticism and theory.
La Farge painted the mural in New York's Church of the Ascension between 1886-1888 after he returned from a trip to Japan. This work will be included in the forthcoming publication by Yale University Press of the late Henry La Farge, completed by James L. Yarnall and Mary A. La Farge. A copy of Yarnall's letter accompanies the lot.
La Farge painted the mural in New York's Church of the Ascension between 1886-1888 after he returned from a trip to Japan. This work will be included in the forthcoming publication by Yale University Press of the late Henry La Farge, completed by James L. Yarnall and Mary A. La Farge. A copy of Yarnall's letter accompanies the lot.