William Bradford

Fishing Camp on the Labrador Coast

N.d.

Charles Temple Dix was born in Albany, New York, the youngest son of the distinguished statesman and soldier, General John Adams Dix. Having already visited Europe as a child, Dix re...

Signed (at lower right): DJ [monogram]; (on back): David Johnson 1865

Signed (at lower right): C A Walker

The career of William Stanley Haseltine spans the entire second half of the nineteenth century. During these years he witnessed the growth and decline of American landscape painting, the new concept of plein-air painting practiced by the Barbizon artists, and the revolutionary techniques of the French Impressionists, all of which had profound effects on the development of painting in the western world. Haseltine remained open to these new developments, selecting aspects of each and assimilating them into his work. What remained constant was his love of nature and his skill at rendering exactly what he saw. His views, at once precise and poetic, are, in effect, portraits of the many places he visited and the landscapes he loved. Haseltine was born in Philadelphia, the son of a prosperous businessman. In 1850, at the age of fifteen, he began his art studies with Paul Weber, a German artist who had settled in Philadelphia two years earlier. From Weber, Haseltine learned about Romanticism and the meticulous draftsmanship that characterized the German School. At the same time, Haseltine enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, and took sketching trips around the Pennsylvania countryside, exploring areas along the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. Following his sophomore year, Haseltine transferred to Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard in 1854, Haseltine returned to Philadelphia and resumed his studies with Weber. Although Weber encouraged Haseltine to continue his training in Europe, the elder Haseltine was reluctant to encourage his son to pursue a career as an artist. During the next year, Haseltine took various sketching trips along the Hudson River and produced a number of pictures, some of which were exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in the spring of 1855. Ultimately, having convinced his father that he should be allowed to study in Europe, Haseltine accompanied Weber to Düsseldorf. The Düsseldorf Academy was, during the 1850s, at the peak of its popularity among American artists. The Academy’s strict course of study emphasized the importance of accurate draftsmanship and a strong sense of professionalism. Landscape painting was the dominant department at the Düsseldorf Academy during this period, and the most famous landscape painter there was Andreas Achenbach, under whom Haseltine studied. Achenbach’s realistic style stressed close observation of form and detail, and reinforced much of what Haseltine had already learned. His Düsseldorf training remained an important influence on him for the rest of his life. At Düsseldorf, Haseltine became friendly with other American artists studying there, especially Emanuel Leutze, Worthington Whittredge, and Albert Bierstadt. They were constant companions, and in the spring and summer months took sketching trips together. In the summer of 1856 the group took a tour of the Rhine, Ahr, and Nahe valleys, continuing through the Swiss alps and over the Saint Gotthard Pass into northern Italy. The following summer Haseltine, Whittredge, and the painter John Irving returned to Switzerland and Italy, and this time continued on to Rome. Rome was a fertile ground for artists at mid-century. When Haseltine arrived in the fall of 1857, the American sculptors Harriet Hosmer, Chauncey B. Ives, Joseph Mozier, William Henry Rinehart...

Lobsterman's Cove, Winter Harbor, Maine Lithograph, 1941 Signed in pencil lower right (see photo) Edition 50 Impressions are in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine...

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...

Autumnal San Francisco Cove and Surf with Whalers Shack circa 1900 Early California Tonalist painting of the San Francisco Coast and a Whalers Cabin. Possibly by D.A. Fisher (American, 1867-1940). Nocturnal paintings in the late 19th century were very popular in the United States. Condition is stellar and excellent with a period frame having a bit of age yellowing to the finish and the gold leaf filets are beaming. Image, 16"H x 22"D Frame, 22"H x 28"W x 2.5"D Fisher appears to have spent most of his career in Portland, Maine. He was an itinerant artist who painted in the San Francisco Bay area in 1891 and at Mount Shasta...

Late 19th century delicate watercolor of the harbor at Cape Ann, Gloucester, Massachusetts depicting rocks in the calm water along with seagulls and sailboats in the distance, by 19th century artist and Reverend William George Puddefoot (American, 1842-1925). Signed "W.G. Puddefoot" lower left. Titled on verso, "Cape Ann Scenery / Near Gloucester, Sunset". Presented in a carved giltwood frame and off-white mat. Reverend William George Puddefoot [1842-1925] (also known as W C Puddefoot) was an artist, traveler, lecturer and the field secretary for the American Home Missionary Society [1826-1893]. For his work, Puddefoot traveled all over the US, lecturing and doing missionary work, including: Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana Pennsylvania, California and Connecticut. He was known for being an extremely colorful character especially in his sermons and lectures. Puddefoot wrote the book Minute Man...