Joseph Rusling Meeker (American/Louisiana, 1827)

Joseph Rusling Meeker (American/Louisiana, 1827-1889) , "Near the Tombigbee River", 1886, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, signed, titled and dated en verso, 16 in. x 22 1/4 in., framed . Provenance: Austin, TX. Note: The Tombigbee River, which flows from Northeast Mississippi down to Mobile Bay in Alabama, is approximately 200 miles long and runs through Gainesville and Demopolis before joining the Alabama River and flowing into Mobile Bay. Throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, steamboats frequented the river, bringing people and goods from as far North as the Aberdeen, Mississippi area down to Mobile, Alabama. With a series of seventeen locks and dams at the height of its use, the Tombigbee saw heavy boat and barge traffic, as well as many accidents. Steamboats often encountered dangers of crashing into other boats and risk of fire, and many ended up sinking to the bottom of the river. However, despite the risks, steam travel was overall an efficient way to bring both goods and passengers up and down the river. During his travels in the American South, Joseph Meeker would have certainly spent time on many types of riverboats as he traveled into the wilderness to sketch southern landscapes. Bringing his drawings back to his studio in St. Louis, Meeker completed his magnificent landscape paintings there, imbuing them with his signature hazy atmospheric effects from his brushwork and palette, as seen in the lot pictured here. With golden lighting and Spanish moss draped on tree branches, Meeker depicts a beautiful, mysterious, and mythical landscape near the Tombigbee river.