Jasper Francis Cropsey 1823-1900

Knoedler & Co., New York, 1943
Private collection (acquired from the above), 1944
By descent to the present owner

Albany, New York, Albany Institute of History and Art, Life on the Hudson, November-December 1943
Utica, New York, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 2005 (on loan)

A similiar version of this work featuring an identical view is at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. According to Kenneth Maddox, "it is likely that Cropsey has placed the sketching figure into his painting as a surrogate image of himself, especially if the sketchbook is signed JFC.  He was probably even aware that Cole placed his signature in View from Mount Holyoke in a similar landscape.  Cropsey more than once has placed a painter sketching at his easel in his landscapes, although the paintings containing such figures would have been painted in the artist's studio.  Also, Cropsey loved dogs and frequently included the animal in his foregrounds."