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While the Yates' sketch may have been somewhat crude, Sexton shows a lack of knowledge for three dimensional perspective. However, the shapes and colors are quite picturesque, and more important, is the interest in history and preserving a vanished past that this painting and its three counterparts show so effectively.
Artist
Samuel Hayden Sexton
(1813 - 1890)
North View of Old Dutch Church, Schenectady
Date1856
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 19 5/8 × 24 3/16 × 3 in. (49.8 × 61.4 × 7.6 cm)
Sight: 13 1/2 × 18 3/16 in. (34.3 × 46.2 cm)
Object numberN0383.1955
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextThis painting is one of four nearly identical works painted by Sexton from a now vanished sketch made in 1813 by Giles F. Yates. It is an attempt to record some of the past history of Schenectady, in particular the church, which was built in 1734 and torn down in 1814. The other buildings, no longer standing but identifiable, include the step-gabled Van Vorst Inn built in the colonial Dutch style and several Georgian style structures.
While the Yates' sketch may have been somewhat crude, Sexton shows a lack of knowledge for three dimensional perspective. However, the shapes and colors are quite picturesque, and more important, is the interest in history and preserving a vanished past that this painting and its three counterparts show so effectively.
On View
On view
