Name/Title
Forested CliffsEntry/Object ID
2001.01.35Description
Painting
This dark and dramatic landscape in the style of the Hudson River School depicts forested cliffs in a narrow valley looking towards further forested mountains. The painting seems almost reverential, a careful observation of a remote and untouched wilderness. The location is unknown.Type of Painting
EaselArtwork Details
Medium
Oil on canvasSubject Place
Region
NortheastContinent
North AmericaContext
The name, "The Hudson River School" was coined to identify a loosely connected group of New York City-based landscape painters that emerged in the 1830s under the influence of the English emigrant Thomas Cole (1801-1848) regarded as the nation’s first major landscape artist and founder of the movement that flourished until the late 1800s. An outgrowth of European Romanticism, The Hudson River School was the first native school of painting in the U.S. As such, it was a proud celebration of the large and untamed American landscape linked to the symbolism of a promised prosperity and limitless resources, and tied to the desire of its artists to become independent of European schools of painting. These painters explored America, as well as Canada, returning to their studios to paint large-scale popular landscape works that celebrated nature, its awesome powers and sublime beauty.
One of the largest collections of paintings by Hudson River School artists is found at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut including over 65 works by the movement’s noteworthy artists such as Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, and Albert Bierstadt.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Alexander François Loemans, RCA (1816-1898)Role
PainterDate made
1882Time Period
19th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Alexander François Loemans was an accomplished Canadian landscape painter, thought to have been born in the Netherlands and to have studied art in France. He lived in cities across Canada and the United States, and is thought to have visited South and Central America. Loemans painted in the Hudson River School style of landscape art with a strong influence from the famous American painter Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), a central figure of the Hudson River School, as well as the German-American painter, Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) of the second generation Hudson River School and the Rocky Mountain School. Loemans emphasized realistic detail, dramatic light, and panoramic views of mountains and falling waters. Most of his known works were painted in Canada (Ontario and Manitoba) and the northern U.S. (New York State and Minnesota). His landscapes often included waterfalls.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Signature, Stamp, LabelLocation
Signed lower left vertical: LoemansTranscription
Verso canvas, upper left vertical: Winsor & Newton Ltd. (repeated along edge)
Framer's paper label right centre verso: N. RHEAUME & BRO...Montreal
Small tag/label Lower right: TB Veterans / 604-874-5626 ? 93-02157Dimensions
Dimension Description
ImageHeight
121.9 cmWidth
76.2 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
Legacy collection - detail unknown
