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The setting is therefore thought to be Ellenville although substantiation is difficult. The subject, however, is not the canal as much as transportation. Henry made an extensive carriage and costume collection that he used in his work, and was fascinated with the history of all modes of transportation. The carriage, canal boat and architecture all suggest a representation set in the 1830s or 1840s. In the foreground a farmer places what appears to be a firkin -- perhaps for butter -- in the carriage.
The small size of the painting is somewhat unusual but the meticulously rendered images and careful perspective are good examples of the French Academic style that Henry used throughout his life.
Exhibition History“The Course of Empire: The Erie Canal and the New York Landscape, 1825-1850,” Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, June 16 – August 12, 1984.
“A Monument of Progress: The 175th Anniversary of the Erie Canal,” Union College Mandeville Gallery, Schenectady, NY, August 31 – October 22, 2000.
BibliographyMacleish, Bruce A., “Paintings in the New York State Historical Association,” in Antiques (September, 1984), p. 597, fig. 7, ill.
Anderson, Patricia, The Course of Empire: The Erie Canal and the New York Landscape (exh. cat. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, 1984), pp. 81, 82, cat. no 28, ill.
Conforti, Michael, James A. Ganz et al., The Clark Brothers Collect Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings (exh. cat. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 330, no. 173.
Artist
Edward Lamson Henry
(1841 - 1919)
On The Canal
Date1885-1890
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 11 5/8 × 15 1/16 × 2 1/4 in. (29.5 × 38.3 × 5.7 cm)
Sight: 5 7/8 × 9 1/2 in. (14.9 × 24.1 cm)
Object numberN0390.1955
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextWhile the Erie is New York's best known canal, Henry is not known to have made any sketches or oil paintings of it. After moving to Cragsmoor in 1885, he made the Delaware and Hudson Canal, which passed through Ellenville about five miles from his home, a subject for numerous sketches and several paintings.The setting is therefore thought to be Ellenville although substantiation is difficult. The subject, however, is not the canal as much as transportation. Henry made an extensive carriage and costume collection that he used in his work, and was fascinated with the history of all modes of transportation. The carriage, canal boat and architecture all suggest a representation set in the 1830s or 1840s. In the foreground a farmer places what appears to be a firkin -- perhaps for butter -- in the carriage.
The small size of the painting is somewhat unusual but the meticulously rendered images and careful perspective are good examples of the French Academic style that Henry used throughout his life.
Exhibition History“The Course of Empire: The Erie Canal and the New York Landscape, 1825-1850,” Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, June 16 – August 12, 1984.
“A Monument of Progress: The 175th Anniversary of the Erie Canal,” Union College Mandeville Gallery, Schenectady, NY, August 31 – October 22, 2000.
BibliographyMacleish, Bruce A., “Paintings in the New York State Historical Association,” in Antiques (September, 1984), p. 597, fig. 7, ill.
Anderson, Patricia, The Course of Empire: The Erie Canal and the New York Landscape (exh. cat. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, 1984), pp. 81, 82, cat. no 28, ill.
Conforti, Michael, James A. Ganz et al., The Clark Brothers Collect Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings (exh. cat. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 330, no. 173.
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