Hudson River Scene

Dateca 1850

MediumOil on wooden keg top

DimensionsFramed: 17 15/16" diameter. Unframed: 15 3/4" (40 cm ) diameter.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.102.19

DescriptionLandscape scene of a river valley on a circular panel. A seemingly still river begins in the center foreground and winds through the center between two banks that give rise to green, tree-spotted hills on either side. A white split-rail fence emerges diagonally from the right and disappears behind the brush and cattails bordering the river's pond-like source where disproportionally large white ducks are entering the water from the right bank. There is a small sailboat with two figures in it in the center of the river and an unoccupied rowboat resting perpendicular to the left river bank. Uphill, a large tree protrudes upward in the center left. There are yellow and white structures on the various hillsides bordering the river, notably a white steeple church on the left bank beneath the large tree. On the right bank, one house has a yellow windmill on its matching yellow roof, and a white colonnaded structure. Further in the distance is a red turret with five illuminated square windows, an illuminated door, and a golden-yellow flag flying above it. The mountainous hill behind it has a distinct line of green vegetation cutting horizontally across it. Horizontal streaks of orange and yellow mark the small stretch of horizon between river's bordering hills, and the remainder of the sky is a whitish color.
Modern 1 1/2-inch circular frame, painted black.Label TextEnthusiastic untrained painters often painted on any material at hand, from a bureau-drawer bottom to a house shingle. A keg top served the unknown artist who painted this Hudson River scene evidenced by a three-quarter-inch rounted outer panel and a stenciled blue star on the reverse.

The castle at the upper right may be intended to represent West Point; a pencil inscription on the back identify the scene specifically as Kosciusko's Tomb, but a variety of other sources are incorporated into this imaginative view of the river.Inscription(s)A pencil inscription on the reverse reads: "Kosciusko's Tomb at West Point, New York"ProvenanceJ. Stuart Halladay and Herrell George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAC's vendor.