View on Lake George

John William Casilear 1857

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States

Details

Title: View on Lake George
Creator: John William Casilear
Date Created: 1857
Physical Dimensions: overall: 50.5 x 76 cm (19 7/8 x 29 15/16 in.) framed: 77.5 x 102.2 x 12.4 cm (30 1/2 x 40 1/4 x 4 7/8 in.)
Provenance: Possibly Jonathan Sturges [1802-1874], New York, and Fairfield, Connecticut;[1] his son, Frederick Sturges [d. 1917], New York, and Fairfield, Connecticut; his son, Frederick Sturges, Jr. [1876-1977], New York, and Fairfield, Connecticut;[2] gift 1978 to NGA. [1] According to letters of 27 August and 7 December 1981 from Frederick Sturges III (in NGA curatorial files), family tradition held that paintings in the Sturges collection were all originally purchased by Jonathan Sturges. In this instance, however, as with several other paintings (see Durand's _Forest in the Morning Light_ and _Pastoral Scene_ [1978.6.2 and 1978.6.3] and Kensett's _Beacon Rock, Newport Harbor_ and _Beach at Beverly_ [1953.1.1 and 1978.6.]) no certain evidence establishes ownership by Jonathan Sturges. No works by Casilear are mentioned in the discussion of the Jonathan Sturges collection in Thomas S. Cummings, _Historic Annals of the National Academy of Design (1825-1863)_, Philadelphia, 1865: 141 (reprint New York, 1965), or in Henry T. Tuckerman, _Book of the Artists_, New York, 1867: 627 (reprint New York, 1967). In 1860 Frederick Sturges lent a work by Casilear, entitled _A Reminiscence of Switzerland_, to the Artists' Fund Society in New York (James L. Yarnall and William H. Gerdts, _The National Museum of American Art's Index to American Art Exhibition Catalogues from the beginning through the 1876 Centennial Year_, 6 vols., Boston, 1986: 1: 604, no. 14703). Although it is conceivable _A Reminiscence_ was this painting (which would mean the present title is inaccurate), it seems unlikely. Most of Casilear's early Swiss works (such as _Swiss Scene_, 1859, National Academy of Design; Barbara Novak and Annette Blaugrund, eds., _Next to Nature: Landscape Paintings from the National Academy of Design_, New York, 1980: 54) show identifiably Alpine terrain, with distinctive snow-capped mountains. [2] Frederick Sturges, Jr., died on 14 October 1977, according to Frederick Sturges III (letter of 27 January 1982 in NGA curatorial files). _View on Lake George_ came to the National Gallery as a bequest with four other paintings.
Rights: CC0
Medium: oil on canvas

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