Untitled
ca. 1875-1880
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Accession Number
1977.1.1A
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jasper Francis Cropsey a prominent second-generation artist of the Hudson River School, captures the sublime beauty of the American landscape this untitled painting from around 1875-1880. Known for his luminous depictions of autumn foliage and dramatic skies, Cropsey evokes the changing seasons with vibrant oranges, reds, and golds against a sunset horizon, accented by swirling clouds. This work exemplifies the Romantic movement's emphasis on nature's grandeur, inviting viewers to reflect on the magic of fall twilight. Created during the post-Civil War era, landscape painting celebrated natio...
About the Artist
Jasper Francis Cropsey
Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823–1900) was an American landscape painter associated with the Hudson River School, the influential mid-nineteenth-century movement that celebrated the natural grandeur of the American continent in large, luminous canvases. Born on Staten Island, New York, Cropsey initially trained as an architect — a background that gave him a strong sense of spatial structure and formal...