Hudson River School Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Rare 19th Century Watercolor and Platinotype -- Coming Home Wonderful and rare 19th Century watercolor and platinotype (Watercolor over Platinum photograph) attributed to Edward Lamson Henry...

John Frederick Kensett (1816 - 1872) Portrait of an Italian Fencer, circa 1845-47 Watercolor on wove paper 13 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches Signed with initials and inscribed lower right "J.F.K. Rome" From October 1845 through the spring of 1847, Kensett lived in Rome. He attended classes where he sketched from live models, and he sketched in the countryside outside Rome and around Florence, Perugia, and Venice, places he visited with his artist friends. He fulfilled commissions for paintings from Americans in Italy, and by 1847 his career was well established. Son of an English immigrant engraver, John Kensett lacked enthusiasm for that medium and became one of the most accomplished painters of the second generation of Hudson River School painters. His reputation is for Luminism, careful depiction of light, weather, and atmosphere as they affect color and texture of natural forms. He was particularly influenced by the painting of Asher Durand in that he focused on realism and detail rather than the highly dramatic views associated with Thomas Cole. Going to the western United States in the mid 1850s and the 1860s, he was the first of the Hudson River School painters to explore and paint the West. Kensett was born and raised in Cheshire, Connecticut, and learned his engraving from his father, Thomas Kensett with whom he worked in New Haven, Connecticut until 1829. He continued working until 1840 as an engraver of labels, banknotes and maps and was employed part of that time by the American Bank Note Company in New York City. There he met Thomas Rossiter, John Casilear, and other artists who urged him to pursue painting. In 1840, he and Rossiter, Asher Durand, and Casilear went to Europe where Kensett stayed for seven years and supported himself by doing engraving but became accomplished in landscape painting. Having sent canvases of Italian landscapes back to New York, he had a reputation for skillful painting that preceded him. When he returned to New York City in 1847, he was an "instant success" and very sought after by collectors. Two of his Italian landscapes had already been purchased by the American Art Union. By 1849, he was a full member of the National Academy of Design and was generally popular among his peers. His studio was a gathering place with travelers stopping by to see his canvases and to identify "precise locations in the Catskills or Newport or New England in the oil sketches and drawings that covered his walls." (Zellman 170). For the women, he was a popular bachelor, "romantic looking with high forehead and sensitive expression." (Samuels 262) He was also sought after by many organizations. Among his activities were serving on the committee to oversee the decoration of the United States Capitol in Washington DC, and becoming one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. An inveterate traveler, Kensett spent summers on painting excursions away from New York City. One of these trips was a special painting excursion with fifteen other artists sponsored by the B & O Railroad from Baltimore, Maryland to Wheeling, West Virginia. Unlike many of the Hudson River painters...

KA-NA-PI-MA, AN OTTAWA CHIEF., from History of the Indian the Indian Tribes of North America, ca. 1842, hand-colored lithograph The lithograph by Charles Bird King depicts Ka-na-pi...

1842 Wakechai (Crouching Eagle) A Saukie Indian Chief Lithograph with Applied Watercolor The lithograph depicts Wakechai, also known as Crouching Eagle, who was a member of the Sauk and Fox delegation. King renders Wakechai with exceptional detail. The Saukie Chief is adorned with fine accoutrements such as a white fur robe...

1838 John Ridge A Cherokee Indian and Interpreter Lithograph with Applied Watercolor The lithograph depicts John Ridge, a Cherokee interpreter, by Charles Bird King (American, 1785 - 1862), published 1838. Compared to other indian portraits in tribal regalia, King's rendering of John Ridge appears to be different. King portrayed John Ridge in Anglo-American clothing, sitting at a desk with a document and pen in hand—hinting at Ridge’s education and career as tribal leader and politician. King was known for his realistic and sensitive renderings of his sitters, and his ability to capture their physical features and attire with dignity and attention to detail. Condition: Good; tonal aging due to age; previous mat tonal aging marks Presented in new conservation mat Paper size: 19.75"H X 14"W Image size: 15"H x 10"W Mat size:24"H x 16"W John Ridge received his education at Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut and served as clerk of the Cherokee National Council. When King painted...