View on the Genesee near Mount Morris

1857

John Frederick Kensett

Painter, American, 1816 - 1872

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 67

Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist; sold 1857 to Robert M. Olyphant [1824-1918], New York;[1] (his sale, by Robert Somerville at Chickering Hall, New York, 18-19 December 1877, 1st day, no. 65, as High Bank, Genessee River); purchased through (Samuel P. Avery, New York) by Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington;[2] acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] Titled View on the Genesee, the painting is recorded in a "list of all paintings sold with prices and to whom sold" for the year 1857 (John F. Kensett Papers, Kellogg Collection, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Microfilm N68-85, frame 477; copy in NGA curatorial files).
[2] According to the Register of Paintings Belonging to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1869-1946, the painting was received from Avery on 26 December 1877 (Series 1, Box: 135, Volume: 1. Corcoran Gallery of Art and Corcoran College of Art + Design, Corcoran Gallery of Art registrar's office records, COR0005.1-RG. Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University; digitized online and copy in NGA curatorial files). That he was acting as agent for the Corcoran Gallery at the Olyphant sale is suggested by an annotated copy of the auction catalogue in which the buyer of the painting is listed as the Corcoran. (Catalogue, Mr. Robert M. Olyphant's collection of paintings by American artists, New York: Somerville Art Gallery, 1877, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson.) The Corcoran register lists six paintings from the Olyphant sale received from Avery.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1858

  • Thirty-third Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 13 April - 30 June 1858, no. 418.

1955

  • The Hudson River School, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 1955, as High Bank, Genesee River.

1966

  • Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, unpublished checklist.

  • Art of the United States: 1670-1966, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 27 September - 27 November 1966, no. 157.

1968

  • John Frederick Kensett 1816-1872, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Columbus Museum of Art; M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Cummer Museum of Art, Jacksonville, 1968-1969, no. 25, repro. (shown only in New York).

1976

  • The Genesse Country, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, 16 January - 22 February 1976, no. 32, repro.

1977

  • Exhibition of 19th Century American Landscape Painting, The Committee on House Administration of the United States House of Representatives, Washington, 31 January - 31 March 1977, no. 4, as High Back, Genessee River.

1984

  • The Course of Empire: The Erie Canal and the New York Landscape, 1825-1875, Memorial Gallery, University of Rochester, 16 June - 12 August 1984, no. 33, repro.

2005

  • Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 28.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

2011

  • Strong, Lisa. "John Frederick Kensett, _View on the Genesee near Mount Morris." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 30, 116-117, 263.

Inscriptions

lower left, JF in monogram: JF.K. 57

Wikidata ID

Q46628547

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