   #copyright

White Mountain art

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical genres, styles,
eras and events

   Thomas Hill (1829-1908) Mount Lafayette in Winter 1870
   Enlarge
   Thomas Hill (1829-1908) Mount Lafayette in Winter 1870

   In the early part of the 19th century, artists ventured to the White
   Mountains of New Hampshire to sketch and paint. Many of the first
   artists were attracted to the region because of the 1826 tragedy of the
   Willey family, in which nine people lost their lives in an avalanche.
   These early works portrayed a dramatic and untamed mountain wilderness.
   The images stirred the imagination of affluent Americans, primarily
   from the large cites of the northeast, who traveled to the White
   Mountains to view the scenes for themselves. Others soon followed: inn
   keepers, writers, scientists, and, of course, more artists. The White
   Mountains thus began to assume their place as a major attraction for
   people from the New England states and beyond. The beauty of the region
   was soon to be shared by others who, because of lack of means,
   distance, or other circumstance, could not visit but were able to
   purchase paintings or prints depicting the area. Thus, during the
   ensuing years of the 19th century, art, tourism, and the economy of the
   region became inextricable linked.

   Transportation improved to the region; inns and later Grand Hotels,
   complete with their "artists in residence," were built. Benjamin
   Champney (1817-1907], one of the early artists, popularized the Conway
   Valley. Other artists preferred the Franconia area, and yet still
   others ventured to Gorham, Shelburne and the communities of the north.
   Although these artists all painted the same picturesque views of the
   White Mountains, each had a unique style of his own. These landscape
   paintings in the Hudson River tradition, however, eventually fell out
   of favour with the public, and, by the turn of the century, it was the
   end of an era of White Mountain art.

The Willey tragedy

   On 28 August 1826, torrential rains in the White Mountains caused a
   mudslide on Mount Willey. The Willey couple, with their five children,
   lived in a small house in the notch between Mounts Willey and Webster.
   They evacuated their home with the help of two hired men to escape the
   landslide, but all seven Willeys and the two hired men died in the
   avalanche. They were all buried in a mass of earth, stones, and trees
   while their home miraculously survived. Rescuers later found an open
   Bible on a table in the Willey home, indicating that the family
   retreated in haste.

   The news of the Willey tragedy quickly spread across the nation. During
   the ensuing years, it would become the subject for literature,
   drawings, local histories, scientific journals, and paintings. The
   disaster started a new awareness of the American landscape and the raw
   wilderness of the White Mountains. This allure — tragedy and untamed
   nature — was a powerful draw for the early artists who painted in the
   White Mountains of New Hampshire (Purchase 1999).

The first artists

   One of the first artists to work in the White Mountains was Thomas Cole
   (1801-1848), founder of the style of painting that would later be
   called the Hudson River School. Cole’s 1839 work, A View of the Pass
   Called the Notch of the White Mountains, is perhaps the best known and
   finest example of early 19th-century White Mountain art. Two other
   early White Mountain painters were Massachusetts artists Alvan Fisher
   (1792-1863) and Thomas Doughty (1793-1856). The works of all of these
   artists, depicting dramatic landscapes and man’s insignificance to
   nature, helped popularize the region.

   Beginning in the 1830s, the landscape painters of the Hudson River
   School "sought to define America and what it was to be an American.
   Artists of that time saw themselves as scientists making documents that
   expressed Christian truths and democratic ideals" (Keyes 1996:91).
   John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872), Mount Washington from the Valley of
   Conway
   Enlarge
   John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872), Mount Washington from the Valley of
   Conway

   In 1851, John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872) produced a monumental
   canvas of Mount Washington that has become an icon of White Mountain
   art. Mount Washington from the Valley of Conway], purchased by the
   American Art Union, was made into a print by the engraver James Smillie
   (1833-1909) and distributed to 13,000 Art Union subscribers throughout
   the country. Many artists painted copies of this same scene from the
   print, and Currier and Ives published a similar print in about 1860.
   Kensett’s painting is another example of a work of art that helped to
   popularize the region.

Travel to the region

   Early coach travel to the White Mountains was long, dusty, and
   uncomfortable. Before the advent of rail travel, a stagecoach ride from
   Portland, Maine to Conway, New Hampshire, a mere fifty miles, took a
   day. When the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad completed its route
   from Portland to Gorham in 1852, tourists and artists could travel in
   comfort to the White Mountains, and were a mere eight miles from Mount
   Washington.

   Although rail lines to North Conway were not complete until the early
   1870s, an innkeeper in the area, Samuel Thompson, established coach
   service from Conway to North Conway and, subsequently, to Pinkham
   Notch. Thompson is also credited with enticing artists to North Conway
   in order to promote the region. In the early 1850s, Thompson convinced
   a young artist, Benjamin Champney (1817-1907), to visit North Conway.
   This artist would change the course of landscape painting throughout
   the region by becoming the father of the "White Mountain School."

Benjamin Champney and the allure of North Conway

   Benjamin Champney (1817-1907) Moat Mountain from North Conway
   Enlarge
   Benjamin Champney (1817-1907) Moat Mountain from North Conway
   Benjamin Champney at the Age of 17
   Enlarge
   Benjamin Champney at the Age of 17

   Benjamin Champney, a New Hampshire native, made his first trip to the
   White Mountains in 1838 on a summer excursion. As an emerging artist in
   the second half of the 19th century, Champney’s style was influenced by
   the Hudson River School, yet he developed a unique style of his own.

   In 1853, Champney bought a home in North Conway and spent the rest of
   his life painting in the greater Conway area. He attracted other
   artists to the region and opened his studio to them as well as
   tourists.

          "My studio has been the resort of many highly cultivated people
          from all parts of our country and even from foreign lands, and I
          have enjoyed much and learned much from the interchange of ideas
          with refined and intelligent minds. But I can relate a little
          incident of quite another kind. A party had been bustling around
          the studio making loud remarks about the paintings. At last they
          caught sight of me in my adjoining workroom and cried out: 'Now
          let's go and see him perform!' This I thought a good joke and
          allowed them to come in" (Champney 1900:159).

   In 1858, Champney painted a view of Mount Washington from Sunset Hill
   that looks down on his house and backyard, and out across North
   Conway’s Intervale. The house still stands; the yard where Champney
   painted the scene is now the location of the Red Jacket Inn. Looking
   out across the Intervale, it is easy to imagine why the artists found
   this view so picturesque.

   Largely because of Champney’s promotion of the area, many artists
   flocked to North Conway in the summer to paint. The area was filled
   with artists painting "en plein air." In 1855, North Conway had become
   " … the pet valley of our landscape painters. There are always a dozen
   or more here during the sketching season, and you can hardly glance
   over the meadows, in any direction, without seeing one of their white
   umbrellas shining in the sun" (The Crayon, 1855:217). By the mid 1850s,
   North Conway had arguably become the first "artist colony" in the
   United States. Winslow Homer (1836-1910) depicted these artists in his
   1868 painting titled Artists Sketching in the White Mountains.

Later artists

   In all, over four hundred artists are known to have painted White
   Mountain views during the 19th century (Campbell 1985). They came from
   the Boston area, Maine, Pennsylvania, and New York. Most of the Hudson
   River School painters worked in the White Mountains while maintaining
   studios in New York City, including such well-known artists as Sanford
   Robinson Gifford (1823-1880) and Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900). A
   complete list of these artists, many with biographies, can be found at
   White Mountain Art & Artists.
   George Albert Frost (1843-1907) Franconia Notch (left); Franconia Notch
   today (right)
   Enlarge
   George Albert Frost (1843-1907) Franconia Notch (left); Franconia Notch
   today (right)

   Most artists came to the White Mountains in the summer, but returned to
   their urban studios, or sometimes to warmer climates like Florida, in
   the winter. Therefore, paintings of winter scenes are not common. A few
   artists, like Champney and Edward Hill, had homes in New Hampshire and
   would sometimes paint winter scenes. Frank Henry Shapleigh had a home
   in Jackson, and was a prolific painter of New Hampshire scenes, both in
   summer and winter.

   By mid-century, painters would change their style from idealized views
   to depict more literal views of the mountains. As an example of how
   literal these depictions were, see the composite image where a painting
   by George Albert Frost of Franconia Notch is compared to a photograph
   of the scene today.

The Grand Resort Hotels

   It was during the 1860s that many of the region's resort hotels were
   built and became popular as major summer destinations for affluent city
   dwellers from Boston and New York. During the latter half of the 19th
   century, many of the artists took up residence at one of these grand
   hotels and became known as "artists-in-residence." This arrangement had
   advantages for both the artist and the hotel. Once established, the
   artists would invite guests to their studios to view their works. The
   guests would purchase original works to bring home as a remembrance of
   the White Mountains. The hotel benefited by having another "attraction"
   to lure guests for an extended stay.

   Two well known artists-in-residence were Edward Hill (1843-1923) and
   Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906). Hill worked at the Profile House in
   Franconia Notch for fifteen years, from 1877 to 1892, and spent shorter
   stays at the Waumbek Hotel and the Glen House. Frank Shapleigh was the
   artist-in-residence at the Crawford House in Crawford Notch for sixteen
   years, from 1877 to 1893.

Working in North Conway, Franconia, and points north

   Horace Wolcott Robbins (1842-1904) The Northern Presidentials
   Enlarge
   Horace Wolcott Robbins (1842-1904) The Northern Presidentials

   A favorite spot for viewing and painting Mount Washington was Sunset
   Hill in North Conway. Other frequently painted views in the Conway area
   included Moat Mountain, Mount Kearsarge, Mount Chocorua, Pinkham Notch,
   and Crawford Notch.

   Many artists also traveled to the Franconia Notch region of the White
   Mountains to paint. A rivalry developed between the Franconia artists
   and the North Conway artists. Each faction believed that their location
   had the most beautiful view of the mountains. Further, those who
   preferred Franconia felt that North Conway, as early as 1857, had been
   despoiled by tourists! In a letter to The Crayon in 1852, the author
   compares the cider in West Campton to that of North Conway.

          "In the evenings, which are now growing cool, we assemble in gay
          gossip about the hearth of our bar-room – by name only – since
          it is really a very quite household apartment, the ‘Stag and
          Hounds,’ etc., being a temperance establishment, prohibitory of
          all fluids, excepting only ‘hard cider,’ of which our host
          supplies an aqueduct at dinner time. I am very sure they have no
          such cider at Conway!" (The Crayon, 1856:317-318).

   In the Franconia region, artists painted Mount Lafayette, Franconia
   Notch, Eagle Cliff, and New Hampshire's favorite icon, the Old Man of
   the Mountain.

   Fewer artists worked in the area north of the Presidential Range. Those
   who did painted less well-known, but equally beautiful, scenes from
   Shelburne, Gorham, and Jefferson. These locations were strategically
   located along train or coach routes from Gorham and Franconia.

Characteristics of the artists

   Each White Mountain artist had certain characteristics that would
   distinguish his work from that of other artists. These characteristics
   are often more suggestive of an artist than even his signature, since
   signatures are sometimes forged.

   Benjamin Champney was a master at painting water and is known for warm
   autumn colors. William F. Paskell, in his later style, used broad
   brushstrokes and bright colors to create an impressionistic feeling.
   George McConnell was known for the velvety pastel look of his
   paintings. Edward Hill often created a canopy-like depiction of trees
   to frame and accentuate the focus of a painting, a technique that gave
   many of his works a feeling of intimacy and solitude. Many of the works
   of Samuel Lancaster Gerry included dogs, people on horseback, and women
   and men in red clothing, although he is well known for his paintings of
   The Old Man of the Mountain. Francis Seth Frost was known to use small
   figures, wispy clouds, and an oval format. Alfred Thompson Bricher was
   known for his quiet, calm water. Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon painted at
   the extremes of the day – sunrise and sunset scenes – and often in
   Franconia Notch. John White Allen Scott frequently painted passing
   storm clouds in his skies. Frank Henry Shapleigh had his own slightly
   primitive style and used the same "props" over and over again in his
   paintings. He is known for painting landscapes as seen from the inside
   of a house or barn looking out through an open door or window. Inside
   the room would be such props as a ladder back chair, a cat, a basket, a
   straw hat, a broom, and/or a tall clock.

   Benjamin Champney - master at water; warm autumn colors

   William F. Paskell - bright colors; impressionistic feeling

   George McConnell - velvety pastel look

   Edward Hill - canopy of trees frame the view

   Samuel Lancaster Gerry - dogs and people on horseback

   Francis Seth Frost - small figures, wispy clouds, oval format

   Alfred Thompson Bricher - quiet, calm water

   Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon - extremes of the day (Profile Lake, Evening)

   John White Allen Scott - storm clouds in both corners of the sky

   Frank Henry Shapleigh - ladder back chair, cat, basket, straw hat,
   broom

The end of an era

   The scenes these artists painted became American icons, or at least
   icons to the people of New England. As tourists took these White
   Mountain paintings home, they were widely dispensed throughout the
   country. Today, these paintings are often discovered as far away as
   California.

   By the latter part of the 19th century, landscape images, such as Mount
   Washington, had lost their appeal with the public. Newer images, such
   as those of the Rocky Mountains, were outweighing interest in the White
   Mountains. Also, landscapes in the Hudson River style were "usurped
   both by new artistic ideas and by the social and technological changes
   that were rapidly occurring in the region and throughout the country"
   (Keyes 1996:99). By the end of the 19th century, these factors, and the
   advent of photography, led to the gradual decline of White Mountain
   landscape painting. Many of these paintings, however, are preserved in
   both private collections and public institutions. Some fine examples of
   these paintings can be seen at the New Hampshire Historical Society in
   Concord, NH, the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH, and at the
   Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, NH.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Mountain_art"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
