Catskill Creek

Jasper Francis Cropsey, Catskill Creek, 1850, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1966.50
Copied Jasper Francis Cropsey, Catskill Creek, 1850, oil on canvas, 18 1227 14 in. (47.169.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1966.50
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Artwork Details

Title
Catskill Creek
Date
1850
Dimensions
18 1227 14 in. (47.169.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — river
  • Landscape — New York
  • Landscape — weather — cloud
  • Landscape — season — autumn
  • Landscape — mountain — Catskill Mountains
Object Number
1966.50

Artwork Description

Jasper Francis Cropsey greatly admired the works of Thomas Cole, who was the first American painter to establish the country’s wilderness as an important subject for painting. In 1850, Cropsey stayed with Cole’s widow in the village of Catskill, where he visited the late artist’s studio and made several sketches of the landscape. (Myers, The Catskills, 1987) In this painting the windswept trees and dark tones of brown and orange evoke the aftermath of a passing storm.

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