JASPER FRANCIS CROPSEY (AMERICAN 1823-1900) "WAVERLY NEWTON, LONG ISLAND"

Signed and dated 'J.F. Cropsey/1852' bottom center, oil on board
11 7/8 x 18 7/8 in. (30.2 x 47.9cm)

Provenance: Collection of the Remsen Strong Family, possibly Aletta Remsen or Peter Remsen Strong "for a view of his residence" [quoted in Artist's Account Book], May 17, 1853.
Collection of George P. Guerry.
Collection of Ferdinand H. Davis, New York, by 1964.
Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts.
Acquired directly from the above in 1966.
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. W. John Driscoll, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts.
Acquired directly from the above in 1978.
Collection of Richard M. Scaife, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
LITERATURE:
(Possibly) "The Strong Divorce Case," in New York Herald, December 2, 1865, p. 10.
William S. Talbot, "Jasper F. Cropsey, Child of the Hudson River School," in Antiques 92, November 1967, pp. 714-15, illustrated as "Waverly, the Strong-Remsen Homestead at Newton, Long Island."
William S. Talbot, Jasper F. Cropsey 1823-1900, Garland Publishing, New York, 1977, no. 68, p. 99 and illustrated pp. 370-371 as "Waverly, Newton, Long Island."
NOTE:
The undisputed beauty and endless variety of North America's landscapes inspired Jasper Cropsey to closely observe, explore and make sketches of sites and locales. The present work, which Jasper Cropsey painted in 1852, captures all of the hallmarks of the artist's best work. Here, the artist depicts a glowing sailboat gently approaching a pavilion, set among an impressive forest, in which trees are rendered in a great symphony of colors. The clouded sky is tinted with a soft pink, indicating the warm glow of the setting sun.
As the title indicates, the building pictured in the background of the composition is "Waverly," the Remsen and Strong family homestead located at Newtown, Long Island. The home, which was originally purchased in 1718 by Daniel Rapalje of New Amsterdam, overlooked what is now Flushing Bay, near LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. At the time Cropsey recorded this house portrait, the home belonged to Aletta Remsen, granddaughter of Daniel Rapalje, and wife to James Strong, uncle of American composer George Templeton Strong. In a letter to his wife dated December 15, 1852, Jasper Cropsey records his close relationship with Aletta's son, Peter Remsen Strong.
The present work is not Cropsey's first attempt to paint the house of his friend, as an early preparatory sketch for the painting, entitled "House and Trees Seen from the Water" (now at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston) carefully records the house and the surrounding landscape (although it does not show the sailing vessel in the foreground). The Frick Library also owns a photograph of another painting of this same subject, "Waverly," this time captured on a calm day (see black-and-white photograph included in the online catalogue). It shows the same house and wharf, as well as the sailing vessel at its mooring, with the artist's signature placed on a plank floating in the water in the lower center. That version was probably the painting Cropsey recorded in his Account Book as sold to Peter Remsen Strong on May 17, 1853, "for a view of his residence" as there is no entry for our canvas. According to the Cropsey Foundation, it is possible that the artist gave our (early) work to Aletta Remsen Strong, and painted a replica upon Peter Remsen Strong's request, who might have wished to gift it to his newly-wedded bride, Mary Emeline Stevens.