Frederic Edwin Church 1826 - 1900

Louis Palmer Church (the artist's son)
Mrs. Ida McCaffery, Detroit, Michigan, 1928 (acquired from the above)
By descent in the family (sold: Sotheby's, New York,  May 27, 1993, lot 138, illustrated in color)
A New York Family Foundation (acquired at the above sale; sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 29, 2006, lot 115, illustrated in color)
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale

Very good condition. Under UV: one small spot of retouching to address frame abrasion at left edge, otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

According to Gerald L. Carr, the present work "depict[s] a theme dear to Church's heart, the Hudson River Valley and Catskill Mountains as viewed from the rural property--the future Olana--in upstate New York, which served as his family's permanent residence after 1861.  Church often sketched weather effects there during the mid- and late 1860s.  However, the majority of his undated as well as dated oil studies of this kind evidently are contemporaneous with the construction, between 1870 and 1872-3, of the Persian-style mansion that he and his wife called Olana.  For the most part Church was his own architect, hence his oil studies - notably those painted during wintertime, when building operations were stopped - are evidence of his abundant creative energies during this period, with regard to the design and construction of his home.  These particular scenes resemble those depicted in an undated oil, still at Olana and which Church framed for display there, and in another oil, dated 1871 and also framed, now in a private collection.  The tree-crowned eminence in the foreground of all four is Quarry Hill; [this] smaller freely brushed work suggests unsettled weather... By the 1890s, the last decade of his life, Church had decorated the interiors of Olana with at least fifteen small oils (two of them by another painter) and one medium-size canvas of views of Olana."