Charles Henry Gifford

View at Dawn

1877

Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved to the New Bedford, Massachusetts, area when he was two years old. The Dutch marine painter Alber...

Robert Swain Gifford (1840–1905) The Edge of the Forest Oil on canvas, 15 x 23 1/4 inches (38.1 x 59.1 cm) Estate stamp lower right: RSwain Gifford Provenance The artist; By descent in the family to the artist's great-grandaughter, until 2023 Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved to the New Bedford, Massachusetts, area when he was two years old. The Dutch marine painter Albert Van Beest arrived in New Bedford in 1854, providing the teenage Gifford with the opportunity of study; he collaborated with Van Beest on a number of ship pictures...

Provenance Collection of Mrs. Victor R. Bieber, Gwynedd, Pennsylvania Born in Ohio, Worthington Thomas Whittredge began his career as a sign and portrait painter in Cincinnati, wher...

Provenance The artist; By descent in the family to the artist's great-grandaughter, until 2023 Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved t...

Signed and dated 1877. Mortimer Smith, a lesser-known yet skilled artist of the Hudson River School, captured the untamed beauty of the American landscape with remarkable depth. This painting presents a seacoast scene with a solitary fisherman, with his boat during the tide. The rugged cliffs frame the composition, their weathered surfaces telling the story of time and nature’s relentless forces. Sunlight filters through the mist, casting a halo glow in the sky, while waves crash against the shore in rhythmic motion. Smith’s brushwork conveys both the serenity and power of the natural world, inviting the viewer to step into the scene under nature's power and beauty. Although born in Jamestown, New York, Mortimer Smith would become well-known as a Detroit architect and artist by the end of the nineteenth century. Little is known of Smith's earlier years; however, scholars speculate that he studied in Oberlin and Sandusky, Ohio before moving to Detroit in 1855. There, the artist flourished and became famous for his crisp landscapes of local scenery, including his beloved winter scenes. In addition to his artistic career, Smith founded a successful architectural firm by the name of Smith, Hynchman and Grylls; Smith's reputation in the visual arts was often overshadowed by his draftsmanship as an architect. Nevertheless, he was a vital force in Detroit's arts community exhibiting his works in venues including the Detroit Art...

Painted by Hudson River School artist Hermann Simon (1846-1895) , "Sunset on the Hudson River" is oil on canvas, measures 15 x 25 inches, and is signed and dated 1875 at the lower ri...

John Ferguson Weir West Point, 1873 Signed and dated lower left Oil on panel 12 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches Provenance: Sotheby's Arcade, American Paintings, December 19, 2003, Lot 1091 Spanierman Gallery, New York Private Collection, New York (acquired directly from the above) Exhibited: Roslyn, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, William Cullen Bryant, The Weirs and American Impressionism, April 24, 1983-July 31, 1983. A painter, sculptor, writer, and teacher, John Weir was a highly talented man whose painting was overshadowed by his father, Robert Weir, the long-time West Point Academy drawing teacher, and his brother, J Alden Weir, well-known impressionist painter. His distinguished reputation was primarily based on his accomplishments as a teacher and administrator. For many years, from 1869 to 1913, John Weir was the Director of the Yale University School of Fine Arts. He was also a commissioner of the art exhibition at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Weir was born at West Point, New York, and by age 20, had a studio in New York City in the Tenth Street Studio Building, the first building in America dedicated to art studios, and there he associated with many leading painters of the day. He earned attention early in his career for paintings of industrial scenes...

Signed indistinctly lower right