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Landscape painters of the mid- to late nineteenth century saw the American landscape as a manifestation of God’s divine creation. Carefully selected motifs shared by multiple artists reveal the spiritual messages contained within seemingly simple images. [1] In Mounts Adam and Eve, the title equates the American landscape with an Edenic paradise; in actuality, the mountains in the middle distance actually bear those names. The painting also incorporates various references relating to the vulnerability and passage of human life. Cropsey’s preference for autumnal scenes can be associated with late middle age, when spiritual matters often take precedence over physical. In addition, brilliant fall foliage such as Cropsey represented here was interpreted as a sign of God’s blessing America. [2]
The inclusion of allegorical elements in landscape painting was pioneered by Cropsey’s predecessor in the genre, Thomas Cole. Critics of the time drew comparisons between the two artists, and Cole clearly influenced the younger artist. However, Cropsey’s loose brush strokes and naturalistic depictions are a departure from Cole’s more strictly arranged compositions. Mounts Adam and Eve reveals Cropsey’s ability to marry the symbolic potential of landscape with a truthful representation of an actual place.
Notes:
[1] See Barbara Novak, Nature and Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), 3–17.
[2] Charles C. Eldredge, Barbara Babcock Millhouse, and Robert G. Workman, American Originals: Selections from Reynolda House, Museum of American Art (New York: Abbeville Press, 1990), 76.
ProvenanceTo 1968
Frederick B. Curtis (born 1875), Fairfield CT [1]
From 1968 to 1970
Barbara B. Millhouse, NY, purchased from Hirschl & Alder Galleries NY on May 29, 1968. [2]
From 1970
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, given by Barbara B. Millhouse on December 31, 1970. [3]
Notes:
[1] See old cover sheets, Object file.
[2] See receipt from Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., Object file.
[3]Deed of Gift, Object file.
Exhibition History1970-1971
Jasper Cropsey
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland OH (7/7/1970-8/6/1970)
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica NY (9/13/1970-10/25/1970)
National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (11/19/1970-1/3/1971)
Cat. No. 58
1971
Reynolda House American Paintings
Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York NY (1/13/1971-1/31/1971)
Cat. No. 17
For benefit of Smith College Scholarship Fund
1990-1992
American Originals, Selections From Reynolda House Museum Of American Art The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago (11/17/1991-1/12/1992)
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
2005
Vanguard Collecting: American Art at Reynolda House
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (4/2005-8/2005)
2021
The Voyage of Life: Art, Allegory, and Community Response
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (7/16/2021 - 12/12/2021)
Published ReferencesLassiter, Barbara B. Reynolda House American Paintings. Winston-Salem, NC: Reynolda House, Inc., 1971: 36, illus. 37.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990: 76-77.
Maddox, Kenneth W. "A Forgotten Mountain: Jasper F. Cropsey's Paintings of Sugar Loaf" Metropolitan Museum Journal. 35 (2000): 221-36; illus. 231.
The Newington-Cropsey Foundation was supposed to publish a Catalog Raisonné for Jasper F. Cropsey, to be published in 2009, but there is no evidence of this book as of 9/20/2010.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg. 126, 127
DepartmentAmerican Art
Mounts Adam and Eve
Artist
Jasper Francis Cropsey
(1823 - 1900)
Date1872
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsFrame: 18 11/16 x 26 11/16 in. (47.5 x 67.8 cm)
Canvas: 12 1/4 x 20 5/16 in. (31.1 x 51.6 cm)
Image: 11 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (29.8 x 50.2 cm)
SignedJ. F. Cropsey
1872
Credit LineGift of Barbara B. Millhouse
CopyrightPublic domain
Object number1970.2.1
DescriptionLike several of the other Hudson River School painters—Thomas Cole at Catskill and Frederic Edwin Church at Olana—Jasper Cropsey built an estate, Aladdin, near the river in Warwick, New York. Painted there, Mounts Adam and Eve is emblematic of Cropsey’s distinctive style of landscape painting. The vibrant coloration and small, loose brushstrokes impart a lively quality to the quiet rural vista. A small girl in a red dress stops along the roadway in the center foreground to speak with an old man seated on a rock. This vignette provides scale and introduces a narrative to the composition. The winding brook in the middle ground guides the viewer’s eye into the distance. The warm yellows, greens, and reds of the fall foliage—more intense in the foreground—are balanced by a gray sky, tinges of cool blue in the water, and distant misty hilltops. The path, which has led the girl to the man, winds behind the trees on the right and does not lead deeper into the composition. Each of these elements reveals Cropsey’s love of nature and his interest in its allegorical possibilities. Landscape painters of the mid- to late nineteenth century saw the American landscape as a manifestation of God’s divine creation. Carefully selected motifs shared by multiple artists reveal the spiritual messages contained within seemingly simple images. [1] In Mounts Adam and Eve, the title equates the American landscape with an Edenic paradise; in actuality, the mountains in the middle distance actually bear those names. The painting also incorporates various references relating to the vulnerability and passage of human life. Cropsey’s preference for autumnal scenes can be associated with late middle age, when spiritual matters often take precedence over physical. In addition, brilliant fall foliage such as Cropsey represented here was interpreted as a sign of God’s blessing America. [2]
The inclusion of allegorical elements in landscape painting was pioneered by Cropsey’s predecessor in the genre, Thomas Cole. Critics of the time drew comparisons between the two artists, and Cole clearly influenced the younger artist. However, Cropsey’s loose brush strokes and naturalistic depictions are a departure from Cole’s more strictly arranged compositions. Mounts Adam and Eve reveals Cropsey’s ability to marry the symbolic potential of landscape with a truthful representation of an actual place.
Notes:
[1] See Barbara Novak, Nature and Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), 3–17.
[2] Charles C. Eldredge, Barbara Babcock Millhouse, and Robert G. Workman, American Originals: Selections from Reynolda House, Museum of American Art (New York: Abbeville Press, 1990), 76.
ProvenanceTo 1968
Frederick B. Curtis (born 1875), Fairfield CT [1]
From 1968 to 1970
Barbara B. Millhouse, NY, purchased from Hirschl & Alder Galleries NY on May 29, 1968. [2]
From 1970
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, given by Barbara B. Millhouse on December 31, 1970. [3]
Notes:
[1] See old cover sheets, Object file.
[2] See receipt from Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., Object file.
[3]Deed of Gift, Object file.
Exhibition History1970-1971
Jasper Cropsey
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland OH (7/7/1970-8/6/1970)
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica NY (9/13/1970-10/25/1970)
National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (11/19/1970-1/3/1971)
Cat. No. 58
1971
Reynolda House American Paintings
Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York NY (1/13/1971-1/31/1971)
Cat. No. 17
For benefit of Smith College Scholarship Fund
1990-1992
American Originals, Selections From Reynolda House Museum Of American Art The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago (11/17/1991-1/12/1992)
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
2005
Vanguard Collecting: American Art at Reynolda House
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (4/2005-8/2005)
2021
The Voyage of Life: Art, Allegory, and Community Response
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (7/16/2021 - 12/12/2021)
Published ReferencesLassiter, Barbara B. Reynolda House American Paintings. Winston-Salem, NC: Reynolda House, Inc., 1971: 36, illus. 37.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990: 76-77.
Maddox, Kenneth W. "A Forgotten Mountain: Jasper F. Cropsey's Paintings of Sugar Loaf" Metropolitan Museum Journal. 35 (2000): 221-36; illus. 231.
The Newington-Cropsey Foundation was supposed to publish a Catalog Raisonné for Jasper F. Cropsey, to be published in 2009, but there is no evidence of this book as of 9/20/2010.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg. 126, 127
Status
On view