Forested Cliffs

Forested Cliffs, 1882. Oil painting by Alexander François Loemans, RCA (1816-1898): And below, a painting by Thomas Cole (1801-1848) founder of The Hudson River School...
Forested Cliffs, 1882. Oil painting by Alexander François Loemans, RCA (1816-1898)

And below, a painting by Thomas Cole (1801-1848) founder of The Hudson River School...

Name/Title

Forested Cliffs

Entry/Object ID

2001.01.35

Description

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

Easel

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on canvas

Subject Place

Region

Northeast

Continent

North America

Context

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

Painter

Date made

1882

Time Period

19th Century

Notes

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, Label

Location

Signed lower left vertical: Loemans

Transcription

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 ? 93-02157

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Image

Height

121.9 cm

Width

76.2 cm

Acquisition

Acquisition Method

Legacy collection - detail unknown