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Cropsey was born in Rossville, on Staten Island, New York, and spent his early years on his father’s farm. He suffered from poor health as a child and consequently received little formal education. Nevertheless, as a teenager, he won a prize for an architectural model he built in 1837 and eventually trained as an architect. While working as an apprentice for four years at the Joseph Trench & Co. architectural firm, he learned watercolor sketching, a skill that later served his artistic pursuits.
During his years working for an architect, Cropsey painted as a hobby. He exhibited his first pieces at the National Academy of Design in 1843. He received warm praise from critics, some of whom predicted he would take the place of Cole as the top landscape painter in the country. A critic at the National Academy predicted: “Before many years have elapsed, he [Cropsey] will stand with them [Cole and Durand] in the front rank, shoulder to shoulder.” [1] In 1847, he and his wife traveled to Europe, renting Cole’s former studio for their two-year stay in Rome. Like his predecessor, Cropsey explored the allegorical potential of landscape with images such as Mounts Adam and Eve, Reynolda House Museum of American Art. Yet his style was less formulaic than Cole’s, reflecting the influence of John Ruskin’s teachings about truth in nature painting. Cropsey’s style was warmly received in New York upon his return to the United States in 1849. Despite his success at home, Cropsey soon returned to Europe, arriving in 1856 and staying for nine years.
Initially, English critics challenged the authenticity of Cropsey’s palette, calling the brilliant autumn foliage gaudy and unrealistic. However, after Cropsey displayed fall leaves from the
Hudson River Valley alongside his paintings in order to prove their authenticity, the European critics were swayed. [2] An English critic in the American journal The Crayon typifies the positive critical response: “Mr. Cropsey is enabled to seize the precise forms of organic life, on the broken ground, in all their variety and force. … Still as in nature, the varying forms and countless tints of innumerable glancing shadows, viewed under one sun, by one pair of eyes, are blended into a harmonious whole, there is complete life and thorough repose.” [3] The truthful sensitivity that critics observed in his work was a result of not only his talent as an artist but of his childhood in rural New York.
Cropsey returned to the United States with his family in 1863 at the height of the Civil War. He took a sojourn from painting and undertook architectural commissions, eventually building an estate, called Aladdin, for his family in Warwick, near the Hudson River. Financial troubles, however, forced him to sell the property in 1885 and he spent the remainder of life in Hastings-on-Hudson. Cropsey continued to paint throughout his life, although Hudson River School paintings in general fell out of favor in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Notes:
[1] Literary World, (New York), May 8, 1847, 323.
[2] William S. Talbot, Jasper Cropsey, 1823–1900 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970), 33–34.
[3] W.J.S., “Sketchings,” The Crayon vol. 7, no. 7 (July1860), 204.
Jasper Francis Cropsey
1823 - 1900
SchoolHudson River School
BiographyFollowing in the footsteps of Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand—the pioneers of the Hudson River School—a second generation of painters emerged who extended the scope of American landscape painting. Often these artists developed their own distinctive styles. Jasper F. Cropsey (1823–1900) is known for his depictions of autumnal scenes, which dazzled international audiences and became a source of nationalistic pride for the American public. Cropsey’s lively paintings capture the beauty and variety of the American landscape and reflect the ideals of the time.Cropsey was born in Rossville, on Staten Island, New York, and spent his early years on his father’s farm. He suffered from poor health as a child and consequently received little formal education. Nevertheless, as a teenager, he won a prize for an architectural model he built in 1837 and eventually trained as an architect. While working as an apprentice for four years at the Joseph Trench & Co. architectural firm, he learned watercolor sketching, a skill that later served his artistic pursuits.
During his years working for an architect, Cropsey painted as a hobby. He exhibited his first pieces at the National Academy of Design in 1843. He received warm praise from critics, some of whom predicted he would take the place of Cole as the top landscape painter in the country. A critic at the National Academy predicted: “Before many years have elapsed, he [Cropsey] will stand with them [Cole and Durand] in the front rank, shoulder to shoulder.” [1] In 1847, he and his wife traveled to Europe, renting Cole’s former studio for their two-year stay in Rome. Like his predecessor, Cropsey explored the allegorical potential of landscape with images such as Mounts Adam and Eve, Reynolda House Museum of American Art. Yet his style was less formulaic than Cole’s, reflecting the influence of John Ruskin’s teachings about truth in nature painting. Cropsey’s style was warmly received in New York upon his return to the United States in 1849. Despite his success at home, Cropsey soon returned to Europe, arriving in 1856 and staying for nine years.
Initially, English critics challenged the authenticity of Cropsey’s palette, calling the brilliant autumn foliage gaudy and unrealistic. However, after Cropsey displayed fall leaves from the
Hudson River Valley alongside his paintings in order to prove their authenticity, the European critics were swayed. [2] An English critic in the American journal The Crayon typifies the positive critical response: “Mr. Cropsey is enabled to seize the precise forms of organic life, on the broken ground, in all their variety and force. … Still as in nature, the varying forms and countless tints of innumerable glancing shadows, viewed under one sun, by one pair of eyes, are blended into a harmonious whole, there is complete life and thorough repose.” [3] The truthful sensitivity that critics observed in his work was a result of not only his talent as an artist but of his childhood in rural New York.
Cropsey returned to the United States with his family in 1863 at the height of the Civil War. He took a sojourn from painting and undertook architectural commissions, eventually building an estate, called Aladdin, for his family in Warwick, near the Hudson River. Financial troubles, however, forced him to sell the property in 1885 and he spent the remainder of life in Hastings-on-Hudson. Cropsey continued to paint throughout his life, although Hudson River School paintings in general fell out of favor in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Notes:
[1] Literary World, (New York), May 8, 1847, 323.
[2] William S. Talbot, Jasper Cropsey, 1823–1900 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970), 33–34.
[3] W.J.S., “Sketchings,” The Crayon vol. 7, no. 7 (July1860), 204.
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