MILBERT, Jacques Gérard, by or after [View of New York taken from Weehawken], 1st half 19th c. Oil painting on canvas, 32 x 40 cm; not signed. Framed. Upper corners sl. rubbed, a few small unobtrusive holes, some light cracks.
Estimation :
2500 / 3000
Adjudication :
2600 €
Description
Nice animated view of Weehawken; this site offered to the New Yorkers a pastoral retreat and was a popular picnic area. Based on a sketch by or a lithograph after the French naturalist and artist J.G. Milbert (1766-1840); he studied art with the landscape painter Pierre-Henri Valenciennes, taught drawing at the School of Mines and in 1800 went on the Baudin expedition to Australia. After coming to America in 1815, he stayed for 8 years, living in New York City and travelling extensively, especially in upstate New York. On October 1823, he returned to Paris and published 3 lithographic albums of picturesque sites he visited during his stay and travels. Although with some differences (a cow in the field in the left part of the lithogr., boats somewhat different...), our view is plate n. 1 of "Itinéraire pittoresque du fleuve Hudson", his major work, published in 13 installments, Paris, Gaugain, 1828-1829. The original sketches for this album were apparently not preserved (except for one conservated in the New York State Library of Albany) nor any original painting by Milbert. Was our painting inspired by the lithogr. or is it the opposite?
