Castle On the Hudson River: A Sandpaper Painting

Price: $1,500

Era: 19th century / 1800's

Country of Origin: United States

Materials: Paper

Condition: Excellent Condition

Style: Art > Romanticism (1760-1869)

Item description:

New York State, mid 19th century. Gouache on "sandpaper" ground. One of two pictures from the same hand in our collection, this idealized view expresses the Romantic sentiment found in views of the Rhine, which were quite popular in America at that time. The inclusion of a ruined castle, for atmosphere, and a small figure in a dinghy, for scale, show man and his works confronted with the effects of nature and time (an idea which informed much of the Hudson River school). The muted palette is typical of the popular "sandpaper" technique in which the painting is done on a panel prepared with marble powder mixed into the gesso. Some of these pictures were based on prints of the time, although no print source has yet been found for this picture. In original gilt frame and glass. Provenance: From a Schenectady estate.