Provenance
The artist; possibly (sale, Artists' Fund Society by Leeds & Miner, New York, 29 December 1865, no. 50, as _Green Mountain, Mt. Desert_); Graham.[1] Possibly John Frederick Kensett [1816-1872], New York.[2] Possibly Miss A.M. Williams, Augusta, Maine, in 1881.[3] Lee Freedman, Southwest Harbor, Maine, in 1978. (Thomas Colville, New Haven); purchased 1979 by Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr., Los Angeles;[4] gift (partial and promised) 2004 to NGA; gift completed 2008.
[1] Annotated copy of the sale catalogue, microfilm roll N429, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
[2] A painting titled _A Study from Nature--Mt. Desert_, included in the 1873 exhibition of works owned by Kensett, may be the NGA painting.
[3] A painting titled _A View from Green Mountain, Mount Desert, Me._ and owned by Miss Williams, which may be the NGA painting, was listed in _A Memorial Catalogue of the Paintings of Sanford Robinson Gifford, N.A., with a Biographical and Critical Essay by Prof. John F. Weir, of the Yale School of Fine Arts_, [Waldo S. Pratt], New York, 1881: no. 385.
[4] Provenance information for the late 1970s is from the 1981 catalogue for the exhibition of the Ganz collection.
Accession Number
2004.99.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 27.9 x 48.3 cm (11 x 19 in.) | framed: 57.2 x 77.5 cm (22 1/2 x 30 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr. in honor of John Wilmerding
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
The Artist Sketching at Mount Desert, Maine is a self-referential work that shows an artist (presumably Gifford himself) sketching in the landscape of Mount Desert Island, the site of what is now Acadia National Park. The painting combines two of Gifford's favorite subjects: the dramatic coastal scenery of Mount Desert and the figure of the artist at work in nature. The artist's presence in the landscape is both a narrative element and a statement of artistic principle—the landscape painter should work directly from nature, observing and recording the effects of light and atmosphere that distinguish one place and one moment from all others.
Cultural Impact
Mount Desert Island was one of the most popular destinations for 19th-century American landscape painters, and Gifford painted it repeatedly throughout his career. The inclusion of the sketching artist in the composition reflects the Hudson River School's emphasis on working directly from nature—an artistic principle that distinguished American landscape painting from the more studio-bound European tradition. The painting is both a landscape and a manifesto.
Why It Matters
The Artist Sketching at Mount Desert, Maine is Gifford's manifesto in paint: the landscape painter at work in nature, observing and recording the effects of light and atmosphere that distinguish one place from all others. The painting is both a beautiful coastal landscape and a statement of artistic principle—painting from nature, not from memory.
