View of Mount Washington

Artist John Frederick Kensett (1816 - 1872)

Date1852

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions30 × 45 1/8 in. (76.2 × 114.6 cm)
Framed: 41 3/8 × 56 1/4 × 4 3/8 in.

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.23

Signedl.l., in brown paint: JF.K. 52.

Accession number 2006.23

On View

On view

Provenance(probably) Samuel Wadsworth Goodridge, New York, NY; (probably) to Edward Goodridge (his son), Hartford, CT, 1868; (probably) by descent to Harriet Elizabeth (Welles) Goodridge (his wife), Hartford, CT, 1906; (probably) by descent to Sophia Matson (Martha?) Goodridge (their daughter), Hartford, CT, 1906; by descent to Thaddeus Welles Goodridge (her brother), Hartford, CT, 1918; by descent until 2004; to (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY); to Private Collection; to (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY); Private Collection; to (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2006
Label TextThis painting of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, while stunning, is an artistic fiction. The area surrounding the tallest peak in the Northeast United States had already long been settled by Europeans. John Frederick Kensett rendered this scene as a site largely untouched by settlers, a popular theme for landscape artists of this era. This practice also played into the myth of America as a land of pure, rugged wilderness. Kensett assembled this work from reference sketches rather than replicating an exact vista, and included Indigenous figures in the foreground to evoke a pre-settlement scene.

Esta pintura de la Montaña Washington en Nuevo Hampshire, aunque impresionante, es una ficción artística. En Estados Unidos, el área que rodea el pico más alto del noreste ya había sido colonizado por europeos. John Frederick Kensett pintó esta escena como un lugar en gran parte intacto por los colonos, un tema popular para los paisajistas de la época. Esta práctica también contribuyó al mito de una América como una tierra pura y salvaje. Kensett reunió este trabajo a partir de bocetos de referencia, en lugar de replicar una vista exacta. Además, incluyó figuras indígenas en el primer plano para evocar una escena antes del asentamiento.
Markingsverso, on canvas: PREPARED BY / THEO KELLEY / NEW YORK [stamp]