Jasper Francis Cropsey Art

Robert Azensky Fine Art is pleased to offer original 1909 sketch study of oil painting "Homesteader Colorado Mountain" painting by Frank Tenney Johnson. It's always special to see the evolution of a painting through the plein air sketches ("studies") by the artist prior to its painting. Frank Tenney Johnson traveled throughout the Colorado Rockies sketching and painting western landscapes and native American and cowboy figurative art. Medium: Charcoal on paper Signature: Lower left corner Date: "1909" below signature Condition: Tonal aging and minor edge wear consistent with age and use. See images. Presented in black painted wood frame Mat size: 14"H x 11"W Paper size: 9"H x 6"W Image size (visible with mat): 8"H x 5.25"W Frank Tenney Johnson was born in Coucil Bluffs, Iowa, in 1874 not far from the Overland Trail. During his childhood, he saw the steady stream of people heading west in all forms of horse-drawn conveyance. This early exposure to the American West was critical in leading Johnson towards the Western landscape as an inspiration for his work. The resulting body of work is a moody and romantic depiction of a long-gone America, rendered in a style that has become practically a genre all its own. At the age of ten, Johnson moved from Iowa to Milwaukee, WI. There, he took an apprenticeship with F.W. Heinie, a prominent panoramic painter. After a year with Heinie, Johnson apprenticed for Richard Lorenz, a painter and former Texas Ranger who specialized in depictions of horses and western scenes. It was probably during his time with Lorenz that Johnson decided to focus on western subjects himself. He also started illustrating for regional papers and publications, in order to save money for further training. Further training, as with many of the artists who populated New Mexico in the early twentieth century, took place at the Art Students League in New York, where Robert Henri, William Merritt Chase, John Twachtman, Kenneth Hayes Miller and F. Louis Mora were in the process of teaching perhaps the last great batch of pre-modernists. Though highly stimulated by the training, Johnson was only able to stay for five months, after which he returned to Milwaukee to work and save money in an effort to return to New York. He was able to do so after a time and, upon returning, established an important professional relationship with Emerson Hough, the editor of "Field & Stream" magazine. At Hough's urging (and on Hough's dime), Johnson traveled to Hayden, Colorado, where he tagged along with a group of cowpunchers in order to sketch their way of life. Though primarily an artist, Johnson also wrote accounts of his time in Colorado for "Field & Stream." After Colorado came Cheyenne, Wyoming, where Johnson attended a "Frontier Days" celebration; after Wyoming, Johnson traveled to New Mexico, where he observed the Navajos and their threatened way of life. This trip changed Johnson from an academic artist with an appreciation for the west to a truly western artist. Of particular interest to him, in stark contrast to other western artists of the time like Frederic Remington and C.M. Russell, were the more quotidian scenes of the West. Specifically, Johnson focused upon scenes featuring horses, especially at night. Johnson painted a great number of pieces that featured horses tied up outside of saloons, inns or trading posts for the night, the moonlit night punctuated by the warm glow from the lamps inside. In this, he can be considered a pioneer, as his night pieces still serve as the archetype for such work in western art. Johnson became quite successful through his work for "Field & Stream." He was chosen to illustrate books by the prominent writer Zane Grey, and his gallery shows sold briskly. In fact, one particular show, at the Grand Central Art Galleries at the Biltmore Hotel in New York, sold out opening night. In fact, one man had bought out the entire show: Amon Carter. Having achieved financial security and comfort, Johnson followed his good friend Clyde Forsythe to Alhambra, CA, where the two established residency and shared a studio. California treated Johnson well. He and Forsythe founded the gallery at the Los Angeles Biltmore...

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...

Beautiful Hudson River School Original gouache autumnal landscape of vivid sunset through forest by Charles Russell Loomis (American 1857 - 1936), circa 1880. Warm and cool tones wit...

Finely painted American 19th Century Hudson River School landscape oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. No signature found. Measuring 17 by 20 inches overall and 8 by 12 painting ...

This dynamic seascape by Charles Ernest Butler captures the rugged cliffs of Penolver Head on the Lizard Peninsula, where land meets the vast, glistening ocean. The bold, expressive ...

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...

This stunning, original signed landscape painting by Charles Partridge Adams (1858-1942) captures the breathtaking beauty of a Colorado sunset along the Front Range, near Denver. The...

Serene early 20th century landscape of a winding creek in verdant country side with a distant farmhouse in the background, by an unknown artist (American, 20th Century), c. 1920. Pre...

William Hart (1823 - 1894) Pastoral Landscape, 1877 Oil on canvas 9 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches Signed and dated lower left Born in Paisley, Scotland, William Ha...

Joseph John Englehart (1867-1915) was a prolific American landscape painter who painted in realist style. He was born on June 14, 1867 in Chicago, Illi...

William Edward Norton (1843 - 1916) Ship Portrait, 1876 Oil on canvas 10 x 16 inches Signed and dated lower left Born in Boston, William Norton became a noted marine painter, stirred by his youth when he sailed on family-owned ships. He studied at the Lowell Institute in Boston, and with George Inness, and then established a studio in Boston. In the early 1870s, he went to Paris and became a student with Chevreuse and A. Vollon, and then he settled in London where he exhibited throughout the last quarter of the 19th century. His reputation there was based on his scenes of the Thames River, and ocean and coastal views. In 1901, he and his wife returned to the United States and settled in New York City. He also painted at Monhegan Island, Maine, where a treacherous ledge on the southern side of the island is named "Norton's Ledge" for him. He was a member of the Boston Art Club with whom he exhibited from 1873 to 1909. He also exhibited with the Pennsylvania Academy, the Royal Academy in London, the Paris Salon, the 1893 Chicago Exposition...

A large scale American Hudson River School Impressionist landscape of a snow scene, most probably Wisconsin, by Leroy Ferdinand Jonas. The painting is signed and dated bottom right and presented in a fine gilt frame. An imposing view of a snowy landscape most probably the artist's native Wisconsin. Jonas has captured the grandeur of the scene with the contrast between the thick lush snow and the rich colours of the foliage and leaves on the trees. His impasto technique is very characteristic of the American Impressionists as is the subject and sense of scale. A really beautiful painting which because of its scale would be a statement piece in any room. LeRoy Jonas was born in the town of Texas, Marathon County, Wisconsin, on April 18, 1897, son of Johann F. and Marie (Borchardt) Jonas. He was educated in Wausau public schools and attended the Chicago Art Institute, where he studied under John Norton, noted for his murals, Leopold Seifert, noted for his portraits, and William Wilmovsky, a landscape artist. He worked as a commercial artist and Conservator of Fine Arts there. Upon graduating, he painted for a while in Door County, Wisconsin and was then awarded a scholarship to study under Leon Lundmark...