Attributed to Sanford Robinson Gifford (American, 1823-1880) or His Circle Mountain Lake (View of Mt. Chocorua)

Attributed to Sanford Robinson Gifford (American, 1823-1880) or His Circle

Mountain Lake (View of Mt. Chocorua)
Unsigned, identified on a label from Vose Galleries of Boston encapsulated on the frame backing cardboard, frame stamped with Vose Galleries address stamp on the reverse.
Oil on canvas, 9 1/4 x 17 3/8 in. (23.5 x 44.0 cm), framed.
Condition: Strip lined, very minor dots of retouch, stable craquelure.

Provenance: Private collection, Cazenovia, New York; to Vose Galleries, Boston, in 1972; to a private collection; Copake Auction, Inc., Copake, New York, 37th Annual New Years Day Auction, January 1, 2017; to the current private collection.

N.B. The authorship of this 19th-century view of Mount Chocorua has an interesting history. It is attributed to Sanford R. Gifford on a label from Vose Galleries, and the work was sold as "Attributed to Sanford R. Gifford" at Copake Auctions on January 1, 2017. At that time, the auction house obtained further history from Vose Galleries explaining that when they received the painting from a private collection in Cazenovia, New York, in 1972, the painting was thought to be by John William Casilear. Experts at Vose Galleries determined that the painting was by Gifford. Over time various scholars have floated possible attribution to other members of the Hudson River School including John Frederick Kensett, but all seem agreed upon its beauty and quality.