A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains (Crawford Notch)

Provenance

Commissioned 1839 by Rufus L. Lord [1782-1869], New York.[1] Jonathan Sturges [1802-1874], New York, and Fairfield, Connecticut;[2] his son, Henry C. Sturges [d. 1924], Fairfield, Connecticut; his wife, Mrs. Henry C. Sturges, Fairfield, Connecticut; LeRoy Ireland, Philadelphia, probably early 1930s, but certainly by 1944;[3] purchased June 1944 by (Vose Galleries, Boston);[4] sold 5 April 1945 to Sanitary Scale Company, Belvidere, Illinois;[5] acquired 1966 by (Kennedy Galleries, New York); purchased 25 May 1967 by NGA. [1] Lord commissioned the painting from Cole in 1839; see Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., "Thomas Cole at Crawford's Notch," _National Gallery of Art Report and Studies in the History of Art_ 2 (1968): 138. [2] Although there is no documentation, the Sturges family believed that Jonathan Sturges acquired the painting either directly from Rufus Lord or from his estate (letter of 10 November 1967 from Dudley Parker, in NGA curatorial files). Howard Merritt concurs in his letter of 29 October 1967 (in NGA curatorial files). [3] The date Mrs. Sturges sold the painting and to whom are unknown to the Sturgeses. Parker's letter of 10 November 1967 (in NGA curatorial files), states that it was sold "in the depth of the great depression." In a letter of 2 June 1967 (in NGA curatorial files) Robert C. Vose, Jr., states that Vose Galleries purchased the painting from LeRoy Ireland, who "got it from the collection of Mr. H. C. Sturges of Fairfield, Connecticut." [4] According to Vose (letter of 2 June 1967 in NGA curatorial files), the painting was sold to the Sanitary Scale Company while on view in the _Hudson River School_ exhibition at the AIC. [5] Letter of 13 June 1973 from John V. Farwell III (in NGA curatorial files).

A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains (Crawford Notch)

Cole, Thomas

1839

Accession Number

1967.8.1

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 102 x 155.8 cm (40 3/16 x 61 5/16 in.) | framed: 135.9 x 189.6 x 14 cm (53 1/2 x 74 5/8 x 5 1/2 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Fund