Lake George
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
44 1/8 x 66 3/8 in. (112.1 x 168.6 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Maria DeWitt Jesup, from the collection of her husband, Morris K. Jesup, 1914
Accession Number
15.30.61
Tags
Art Historical Context
John Frederick Kensett's *Lake George* (1869) captures the serene beauty of of New York's most cherished natural landmarks, reflecting the 19th-century American fascination with the wilderness. As a leading figure in the Hudson River School and Luminism movement, Kensett painted during a post-Civil War era when artists celebrated the nation's landscapes as symbols of divine harmony and national identity. This large-scale oil on canvas (44 1/8 x 66 3/8 in.) invites viewers into a tranquil vista of shimmering waters and distant hills, evoking a sense of peaceful escape. Kensett's mastery shines...
About the Artist
John Frederick Kensett · 1816–1872
John Frederick Kensett (1816–1872) was one of the most admired American landscape painters of the nineteenth century, a central figure of the Hudson River School whose late work pioneered the atmospheric, light-saturated style now known as Luminism. Born in Cheshire, Connecticut, into a family of engravers, Kensett learned the craft of engraving in his youth, a discipline that gave him an early tr...