Beschreibung:

Thomas Hovenden American, 1840-1895 Woodland Crossing, 1873 American, 1840-1895 Woodland Crossing, 1873 Signed Thovenden with conjoined first initials and dated 1873 (ll) Oil on canvas 18 x 24 inches Provenance: Private collection, MD Orphaned at a young age, Thomas Hovenden emigrated from Ireland to America in 1863, becoming one of the country's best known painters of genre scenes in the late nineteenth century. The abolitionist sympathies he shared with his wife surfaced in his well known The Last Moments of John Brown of 1884 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the sensitive images of African Americans he painted during Reconstruction. Hovenden also focused on country life, capitalizing on the growing interest in the outdoors in America. The well-dressed figures have entered a Hudson River School-like forest glade, enjoying its opportunities for climbing, wading in mountain streams, and taking advantage of the privacy of shaded overhangs for romantic interludes. Painted in 1873, Woodland Crossing has some parallels with Homer's Houghton farm images of 1878. It was painted in the year before Hovenden left for a six-year sojourn in Europe, where he would focus on Breton imagery. C The Spanierman Gallery, LLC
Wax relined. Frame rubbing. Scattered craquelure throughout. There is some possible inpaint in the shadows of the fallen trees at the center. There is a dense varnish, unable to detect further restoration under UV light.