The Old Mill
Artist
Jasper Francis Cropsey
(American, 1823-1900)
CultureAmerican
Date1876
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 48 1/4 x 84 3/8 in. (122.6 x 214.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 1/2 x 96 1/2 in. (153.7 x 245.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 1/2 x 96 1/2 in. (153.7 x 245.1 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower right: J.F. Cropsey 1876.
Credit LineMuseum membership purchase
Object number63.34.1
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 212
Label TextJasper Francis Cropsey American, 1823–1900 The Old Mill, 1876 Oil on canvas Like the slow turning of the water-wheel, summer gently turns to fall in Jasper Cropsey’s Old Mill. Cropsey excelled in depicting upstate New York’s dramatic autumn foliage, and his dazzling orange, red, and yellow leaves affirmed painting’s superiority over the growing field of landscape photography. The gristmill forms the rich red heart of this scene, symbolizing harmony between man and nature. By the 1870s, steam power made such mills obsolete, giving this work nostalgic appeal. Museum membership purchase 63.34.1 ProvenanceVose Galleries, Boston, Mass.; The Chrysler Museum Membership Purchase, 1963. Exhibition History"The Centennial International Exposition," 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Cropsey Retrospective Exhibition," University of Maryland, February 1968 - March 1968. (Exh. cat. no. 34). "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. (Exh. cat. p. 106). "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. Published ReferencesEdward Strahan, _Fine Art_ Illustrated Vol. 1, "The Masterpieces of The Centennial International Exhibition, 1876," (Philadelphia: Gebbie and Barrie, N.d.; Gebbie and Barrie, copyright 1877), text p. 250, steel engraving by R. Hinshelwood facing p. 232. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 106. William S. Talbot, _Jasper F. Cropsey, 1823-1900_ (New York and London, 1977), 210-211, 457-458, no. 195. ISBN: 0824027310 Mahonri Sharp Young, "Primitive to Pop," _Apollo_ 107 (April 1978), 46. Gertrude Dahlberg, "Jasper Francis Cropsey: Painter of Autumn," _Art And Antiques_ 2, issue 6 (November 1979): 106-107. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 87. "Sneak Preview - Reinstallation: Art Through The Ages," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 18, no. 10 (November 1988): 1- 3. Betsy Fahlman, "Jasper Francis Cropsey's 'The Old Red Mill'," _Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter_ 17, no. 4 (Winter 1988): 5. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 136, plate 107. ISBN: 0-940744-59-7, 0-940744-62-7 Stephen May, edited by Kathleen Luhrs and Florence Levins, _Jasper Francis Cropsey: An Artist for All Seasons_ (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY: The Newington Cropsey Foundation, 1994), 16. Walter S. Gibson, _Pleasant Places: The Rustic Landscape from Bruegel to Ruisdael_ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 116. ISBN: 0520216989 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, VA.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 94-95, no. 55. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 65, fig. 68. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1 Betsy Fahlman and Eric Schruers, _Wonders of Work and Labor: The Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art_ (University Park, PA: Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum and Art Gallery, Penn State Press, 2008), 12.
Walter Francis Brown
Pair/Pair
