As Time Passes Over the Land: White Mountain Art

As Time Passes Over the Land: White Mountain Art
Landscape painting in oil from the Time Passes exhibit

 


Project Director: Catherine Amidon

White Mountain School painting has long been admired for the ways that artists captured and embellished the natural beauty of the region. Much has been written about nineteenth century visitors’ awe and reverence of the region and how it was rendered visible by the many famous painters who frequented the area. Equally imbedded in those paintings is evidence of environmental change, from the impact of settlers’ activities including clear-cutting, hunting, and farming, to the industrial practices of pulp mills and mines. As settlers and investors drew benefits from natural resources, they perceived the land as the site of abundance and beauty reflected in the paintings. The exhibition will celebrate the great art of the era and explore dynamic environmental change as time passes over the land.

Pemigewasset River in W. Thornton, NH, Samuel W. Griggs, oil on canvas
Pemigewasset River in W. Thornton, NH, Samuel W. Griggs, oil on canvas, 1883, 12 x 6, Private Collection

painting of Mt. Jefferson, on route from Gorham to the Glen House, Alvan Fisher
Mt. Jefferson, on route from Gorham to the Glen House, Alvan Fisher, oil on canvas, undated, 24 X 20 Private Collection

Haying in the Pemigewasset Valley, Samuel W. Griggs, oil on canvas, undated, 18 X 30 Private Collection
Haying in the Pemigewasset Valley, Samuel W. Griggs, oil on canvas, undated, 18 X 30 Private Collection

Landscape painting in oil from the Time Passes exhibit
On the Saco, North Conway, Benjamin Champney, oil on canvas, 1861, 9 X 13 from the collection of John J. and Joan R. Henderson

Saco River at Sunset, Benjamin Champney painting
Saco River at Sunset, Benjamin Champney, oil on canvas, undated, 10 X 14 Private Collection

White Mountain Scenery oil painting
White Mountain Scenery, William H. Titcomb attributed

Androscoggin River, oil painting by David Johnson
Androscoggin River, David Johnson, oil on canvas, 1869, 14 X 22 Private Collection

Valley Floor: Fields – Perkins Farm, painting by Frank Shapleigh
Perkins Farm, Frank Shapleigh, Jackson NH, oil on canvas 1870, 10 x 19 Private Collection

Mount Washington and the Village of North Conway painting by Bradford Freeman
Mount Washington and the Village of North Conway, Bradford Freeman, oil on canvas, circa 1860’s, 24 X 36 from the collection of John J. and Joan R. Henderson. Photograph courtesy of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

View of Mt. Chocorua, William Newton Bartholomew, oil on canvas
View of Mt. Chocorua, William Newton Bartholomew, oil on canvas, 1851, 12 3/4 X 16 1/2 Private Collection

Thorn Mountain from Conway Meadows, John White Allen Scott oil painting
Thorn Mountain from Conway Meadows, John White Allen Scott, oil on canvas, 1878, 12 X 20 Private Collection

Presidential Range with Sheep, Edward Hill oil painting
Presidential Range with Sheep, Edward Hill, oil on canvas, 1877, 12 X 20 Private Collection

Mount Chocorua and Chocorua Lake from Tamworth, oil painting
Mount Chocorua and Chocorua Lake from Tamworth, John White Allen Scott, oil on canvas, 1873, 30 X 50 from the collection of John J. and Joan R. Henderson

Mount Washington from the Valley of Conway, steel engraving
Mount Washington from the Valley of Conway, George Smillie after John Kensett, steel engraving, 14 X 18 Private Collection

Jefferson Highlands, NH, 1883, John Ross Key, oil on canvas
Jefferson Highlands, NH, 1883, John Ross Key, oil on canvas, 1883, 20 X 44 Private Collection

The Crawford Valley from Mt. Willard, Frank Henry Shapleigh, oil on canvas
The Crawford Valley from Mt. Willard, Frank Henry Shapleigh, oil on canvas, 1877, 21 X 36 Private Collection

Mounts Madison and Adams from Gorham, Horace Wolcott Robbins, oil on canvas,
Mounts Madison and Adams from Gorham, Horace Wolcott Robbins, oil on canvas, 1863-1865, 30 X 54 from the collection of John J. and Joan R. Henderson. Photograph courtesy of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

Echo Lake, Franconia Notch, Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon, oil on canvas
Echo Lake, Franconia Notch, Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon, oil on canvas, 1858, 34 X 48 from the collection of John J. and Joan R. Henderson. Photograph courtesy of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

 Mt. Washington from Intervale, North Conway, Samuel L. Gerry, oil on canvas
Mt. Washington from Intervale, North Conway, Samuel L. Gerry, oil on canvas, 1868, 6 X 8 Private Collection

View of a Mountain Lake II, Granville Perkins, oil on canvas
View of a Mountain Lake II, Granville Perkins, oil on canvas, circa 1870, 10 X 13 7/8 Private Collection

View of a Mountain Lake II, Granville Perkins, oil on canvas.
View of a Mountain Lake II, Granville Perkins, oil on canvas, circa 1870, 10 X 13 7/8 Private Collection

Tuckermans Ravine and Lions Head, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, oil on canvas
Tuckermans Ravine and Lions Head, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, oil on canvas, 14 X 20 Private Collection

iew of Jackson, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, oil on canvas, undated, 12 x 20, Private Collection
iew of Jackson, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, oil on canvas, undated, 12 x 20, Private Collection

Mt. Washington Carriage Road and Presidential Range, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, oil on canvas
Mt. Washington Carriage Road and Presidential Range, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, oil on canvas, undated, 20 X 27 1/8 Private Collection

Androscoggin Valley, White Mountains (Mount Madison) oil painting
Androscoggin Valley, White Mountains (Mount Madison), Lemuel D. Eldred, oil on canvas, 1876, 22 X 36 from the collection of John J. and Joan R. Henderson. Photograph courtesy of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

Horseback Rider at Echo Lake oil painting by Edward Hill
Mt. Washington from Intervale, North Conway, First Snow, Wilhelm Heine, oil on canvas, 1851, 6 X 12 Private Collection

Mt. Washington from Intervale, North Conway, First Snow, Wilhelm Heine
Mt. Washington from Intervale, North Conway, First Snow, Wilhelm Heine, oil on canvas, 1851, 6 X 12 Private Collection

Hart’s Ledge, and Echo Lake, near North Conway NH, Thomas J. Fenimore, oil on canvas
Hart’s Ledge, and Echo Lake, near North Conway NH, Thomas J. Fenimore, oil on canvas, 1867, 12X 22 Private Collection

Mount Washington from Saco River, Benjamin Champney, oil on canvas
Mount Washington from Saco River, Benjamin Champney, oil on canvas, 1851, 12 X 16 Private Collection