Provenance
Probably Marshall O. Roberts [1814-1880], New York, by 1864;[1] probably (his estate sale, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, 19-21 January 1897, 1st day, no. 129). private collection, Los Angeles; (Scott Anderson, Los Angeles);[2] sold 2000 to Mr. and Mrs. Howard Godel, Bedford, New York; sold 10 March 2003 to NGA.
[1] Roberts' self-made wealth came from various government contracts that relied on his interests in steamers and railroads. Long a patron of the fine arts, he gathered a collection of over three hundred paintings that he opened to the public free of charge. A number of things point to the probability that Roberts owned the NGA painting. A review of the exhibition at the Artists' Fund Society in Philadelphia early in 1864 that seems to describe the NGA painting indicates that several of the paintings would "in a few days . . . be sent to their New York possessors," but unfortunately none are specified ("Art in Philadelphia," _The Daily Evening Bulletin_ [Philadelphia, 21 January 1864]: 8:1). Roberts certainly owned a painting with the same title by the spring of that year; number 80 in the catalogue of the 1864 _Art Exhibition at the Metropolitan Fair in Aid of the U.S. Sanitary Commission_ was "October, 1863," lent by M.O. Roberts. The painting was mentioned by title in a review of the exhibition, but it was "hung too high to be studied" and there is no clear description given ("Exhibition of Pictures at the Sanitary Fair," _New-York Daily Tribune_ [16 April 1864]: 12; both newspaper articles supplied by Merl M. Moore, Jr.). The fifty-two stereograph views of the exhibition held by the New York Historical Society were reviewed (Collection Box 43, PR 065-0500), but in the views that feature paintings the works are either too small or not clear enough to be identified (memo of 23 May 2003, Charlie Brock to Franklin Kelly, NGA Dept. of American and British Paintings). The only Richards painting in the 1897 estate sale catalogue is "October," with dimensions given as 23 1/2 x 28, which are very close to those of the NGA painting.
[2] See e-mail message of 2 September 2003 from Godel & Co. to Franklin Kelly, copy in NGA curatorial files.
Accession Number
2003.29.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 71.4 x 61 cm (28 1/8 x 24 in.) | framed: 96.5 x 85.4 x 13 cm (38 x 33 5/8 x 5 1/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
The William Stamps Farish Fund
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
William Trost Richards (1833-1905) was an American painter known for his precisely observed landscapes and seascapes in the manner that combines Pre-Raphaelite detail with American landscape subjects. October from 1863 depicts an autumn landscape in the precisely observed manner that distinguishes Richards's best work from the more atmospheric manner of the Hudson River School. The 1863 date places this in Richards's most productive period, when he was producing the precisely observed landscapes that made him a leading figure in the American Pre-Raphaelite movement.
Cultural Impact
October is important in the history of American landscape painting because it demonstrates the Pre-Raphaelite manner that Richards brought to American landscape subjects. The precisely observed detail and botanical accuracy of Richards's landscapes represent an alternative to the more atmospheric manner of the Hudson River School, and the 1863 painting shows the American Pre-Raphaelite movement at its most accomplished.
Why It Matters
October is Richards's American Pre-Raphaelite landscape: an autumn scene rendered with the precisely observed detail and botanical accuracy that distinguish the American Pre-Raphaelite movement from the more atmospheric Hudson River School. The 1863 painting shows an alternative to the atmospheric manner that dominated American landscape painting.
