Artwork
View of Mt. Washington
View of Mt. Washington is an oil painting by the Hudson River School artist Jasper Francis Cropsey. It dates from 1881 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right: J.F. Cropsey / 1881.
About this work
Technique & Style
The painting has been maintained in the collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and later the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.
View of Mt. Washington is an oil painting executed on canvas by Jasper Francis Cropsey in 1881. The work is a landscape, depicting Mount Washington amid the natural scenery of the White Mountains.
As an oil-on-canvas piece from the late 19th century, the medium allows for the layered application and blending characteristic of the artist's Hudson River School practice. The painting has been maintained in the collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and later the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., indicating its preservation as a significant work of American landscape art.
History & Provenance
Jasper Francis Cropsey created the oil-on-canvas painting View of Mt. Washington in 1881. The work remained in the artist's personal collection before passing by descent through his family to his great-granddaughter, Barbara Newington of Greenwich, Connecticut.
On November 18, 1977, Newington gifted the painting to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The National Gallery of Art subsequently acquired the work in 2015, where it is currently held.
View of Mt. Washington has been part of the National Gallery of Art collection in Washington, D.C. since 2015, having been acquired that year from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where it had been held following its gift on 18 November 1977. The painting originally belonged to the artist, Jasper Francis Cropsey, and descended through his family to his great-granddaughter, Barbara Newington [Mrs. John C. Newington], of Greenwich, Connecticut, before entering the Corcoran's holdings.
No exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Overview
Jasper Francis Cropsey’s 1881 oil on canvas, titled View of Mt. Washington, depicts a broad valley shrouded in mist. A distant mountain rises behind rolling hills, while the foreground is populated with autumn‑colored trees, green‑brown fields, a low fence, and grazing livestock. The composition balances atmospheric sky with detailed landforms.
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents a late‑summer or early‑autumn scene in which the interplay of light and weather emphasizes the transitory nature of the landscape. Warm shafts of sunlight break through dense clouds, illuminating foliage in reds and oranges, suggesting both the vitality of the season and the fleeting clarity of a misty day.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jasper Francis Cropsey was an American architect and artist. He is best known for his Hudson River School landscape paintings.
