Nordell, Carl [Johan David] (1885-1957) The Pool in Autumn

Art

-

The New Deal Museum

Name/Title

Nordell, Carl [Johan David] (1885-1957) "The Pool in Autumn"

Entry/Object ID

2025.900.FA18225

Tags

Oil Painting

Description

The familiar phrase “peak color” receives an ecstatic new meaning in Nordell’s transcendentalist vision, where sun illuminates woodland foliage in fiery hues, then doubles them in a reflecting pool. His figurative rendering of the scene edges toward an impressionist composition in leaf-colors; upstate New Yorkers know this moment and this feeling.

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil

Collection

Mt. Morris TB Hospital FAP Collection

Made/Created

Artist

Nordell, Carl Johan David

Date made

1935 - 1940

Condition

Overall Condition

Very Poor

Date Examined

Jul 29, 2025

Notes

1 chip upper left center, 8 scratches along bottom/middle right side/upper middle top, 2 holes center/upper right corner, wooden canvas/frame broken/fading indent, upper right corner/throughout entirety/left middle

Recommendations

needs frame, restoration, significant canvas/wood missing in corner

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Created under the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project (1930s–1940s), this collection of easel paintings was originally installed at the Mount Morris Tuberculosis Sanitorium in Livingston County, New York. Following the sanitorium’s closure in 1970, the artworks were abandoned and remained in storage until their rediscovery decades later. Now preserved and exhibited by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts (GVCA), the collection is housed at the New Deal Museum in Mount Morris. Current efforts include digitization, high-resolution photography, and the creation of an online archive to ensure long-term public access and research availability.

General Notes

Note Type

Donation

Note

Hildegarde Lurk: $25

Note Type

Cataloging Note

Note

See the entry titled 'New Deal Collection Documents' for supporting documents, and general historic and research information.