Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

Mortimear Smith
The Cove at Dusk

1877

$20,000
£15,190.49
€17,471.85
CA$27,943.92
A$31,160.63
CHF 16,258.29
MX$382,352.71
NOK 206,942.13
SEK 196,073.17
DKK 130,398.84
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

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 Loan Exhibition (for which he also designed the exhibition space), Detroit Institute of Arts, and with the Detroit Art Association. His works were also shown at the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, National Academy of Design, and Michigan State Fair. Today, the artist's works may be seen at the Detroit Institute of Arts and University of Rochester, Memorial Art Gallery. One of Smith's works was also included in the Muskegon Museum of Art's 1987 exhibition Artists of Michigan from the nineteenth century: a sesquicentennial exhibition commemorating Michigan statehood, 1837-1987. Provenance: Private Collection Detroit Christie's in September 2009 References William H. Gerdts, Art Across America: Two Centuries of Regional Painting, 1710-1920, vol. 3 (New York: Abbeville Press, c. 1990), pp. 239, 246. Peter Falk, Who was Who in American Art, 1564-1975, vol III (Madison, Conn.: Sound View Press, 1999), p. 3087 Source: askart & Questrolyal Fine Art
  • Creator:
    Mortimear Smith (1840 - 1896, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1877
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)Width: 24.5 in (62.23 cm)Depth: 4 in (10.16 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Saratoga Springs, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU170210213452

More From This Seller

View All
Distant Horizon
By Edward Moran
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Edward Moran (American, 1829 - 1901) Boy with Dog on Dock Oil on canvas Signed lower left 22 x 36 inches Provenance: Sotheby's Sale no. 3255 Oct. 27-28, 1977 Page 58 Price on reques...
Category

Late 19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Distant Horizon
Price Upon Request
Fishing by the Stream
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Signed lower right Dewitt Clinton Boutelle’s landscape paintings embody the grandeur and tranquility of the Hudson River School. In this imagined scene, a lone fisherman stands on t...
Category

1860s Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ausable
By William Ongley
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Signed lower right. A landscape and marine painter, William Ongley was born in England in 1836 and came to America with his family and settled in New York. His art studies took him ...
Category

Late 19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

High Peaks in the Adriondacks
By Charles H. Chapin
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Charles Henry Chapin - American (1830 - 1889) “High Peaks of the Adirondacks” Note: Peaks include Mount Marcy, Haystack Mountain, Basin Mountain, as viewed from the Ausable Lake Area...
Category

Late 19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mount Washington, New Hampshire
By Edmund Darch Lewis
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Edmund Darch Lewis (1835-1910) Mount Washington, New Hampshire 50 x 58 inches, signed & dated 1859 Description The area near Mount Washington in New Hampshire was visited by many ...
Category

1850s Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Summer Gathering
By Ambrose Andrews
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Signed lower right. An itinerant portrait, miniature, and landscape painter, Ambrose Andrews had a wide-ranging career geographically that saw him in many regions including New York (1829-31), Connecticut (1837), Texas (1837-1841) and Louisiana (1841-42). After 1844, he was active in St. Louis, New York City, Buffalo, New York, Vermont and Canada. He was born in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and in 1824, attended the National Academy of Design. Andrews exhibited paintings at the Republic of Texas Capitol...
Category

19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

Hudson River School Seascape at Sunset
Located in Soquel, CA
Luminous Hudson River School landscape of sunset over water with red buoy in foreground and sailing ships in background in the style of Alfred Thompson Briche...
Category

1880s Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

"Grand Manan" Harrison Bird Brown, Maine Landscape, Hudson River School Seascape
By Harrison Bird Brown
Located in New York, NY
Harrison Bird Brown (1831 - 1915) Grand Manan Oil on canvas 12 x 20 inches Signed with initials lower left Harrison Bird Brown was born in 1831 in Portland, Maine, and is best known for his White Mountain landscapes and marine paintings of Maine's Casco Bay...
Category

Late 19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sailing Through Choppy Waters at Sunset
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
"Sailing Through Choppy Waters at Sunset" captures the dramatic beauty of the American maritime experience, evoking both the power of nature and the resilience of the human spirit. T...
Category

19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American Hudson River School Luminous Coastal Sunset Seascape Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Signed and dated K. W. Newhall 1881, this luminous seascape by American painter Kate White Newhall (1840–1917) captures a dramatic coastal scene at sunset with refined academic techn...
Category

1880s Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Coastal Scene at Sunset with Ships
Located in New York, NY
Signed indistinctly lower right
Category

Late 19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Rocky Seashore
By Lemuel D. Eldred
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
"Rocky Seascape" by Lemuel D. Eldred is a captivating painting that masterfully captures the raw beauty and power of the sea. Eldred, an accomplished 19th-century American marine art...
Category

Mid-19th Century Hudson River School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board