Artwork
Autumn at Mount Chocorua
Autumn at Mount Chocorua is an oil painting by the Hudson River School artist Jasper Francis Cropsey. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
These elements combine to evoke the fleeting intensity of seasonal change and the quiet grandeur of the American wilderness.
The canvas portrays a solitary mountain peak shrouded in a canopy of fiery foliage, a river winding beneath a sky streaked with gold, and a sun low on the horizon. These elements combine to evoke the fleeting intensity of seasonal change and the quiet grandeur of the American wilderness. The work reflects the artist's fascination with the spiritual resonance of nature, using vivid color and dramatic light to suggest both the physical landscape and an inner emotional response to its beauty.
Technique & Style
Autumn at Mount Chocorua is an oil painting executed on canvas. Jasper Francis Cropsey applied oil paint to depict a seasonal New England landscape featuring sky, river, tree, hill, mountain, autumn, sun, and Mount Chocorua. The work measures 60.5 by 112.4 and has been part of the Brooklyn Museum collection since its creation in 1850.
History & Provenance
Autumn at Mount Chocorua was created by Jasper Francis Cropsey in 1850, executed in oil paint on canvas. The work entered the collection of the Brooklyn Museum, where it is currently held. No further details regarding commission, intermediate ownership, or acquisition history are documented in the available sources.
The painting is held by the Brooklyn Museum, New York, where it is recorded under accession number 60.5 × 112.4 cm.
It has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in the exhibition "American Art from the Collection of the Brooklyn Museum" (1966–1967).
Overview
Jasper Francis Cropsey’s oil landscape titled Autumn at Mount Chocorua dates to around 1850. Executed in the Hudson River School tradition, the work portrays a tranquil New England fall scene dominated by the eponymous peak. The canvas is part of the Brooklyn Museum’s collection, where it is displayed among other 19th‑century American vistas.
Context
During the 1850s, American artists increasingly turned to the nation’s interior for subject matter, seeking to define a distinct cultural identity. Cropsey, a prominent member of the Hudson River School, often depicted the White Mountains, and Autumn at Mount Chocorua reflects his fascination with seasonal light effects and the sublime qualities of the American frontier.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jasper Francis Cropsey was an American architect and artist. He is best known for his Hudson River School landscape paintings.
Welch Mountain from West Campton, New Hampshire
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View from Stacey Hill, Stoddard, New Hampshire
Spring Landscape
River Scene
Landskab med udsigt mod Sjælsø nær Hørsholm
An October Day in the White Mountains
Sketch for View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm (The Oxbow)
Landscape with Cows Watering in a Stream
Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle- Mount Chocorua, New Hampshire