catalog text
ROBERT WARD VAN BOSKERCK (AMERICAN, 1855-1932), A.N.A (1897), N.A. (1907)
"Autumn, the Loing Fountainblueau
Item # 130112MUP06
The early handwritten label affixed to the back of this fine American School work, one of three early labels, reads "Autumn, the Loing, Fontainebleau", presumably referring to the Moret-sur-Loing area of Fontainebleau, in the Seine-et-Marne region of France. It is a remarkable balance of light and startling color as the warmer tones of Autumn float through the wooded scene, melding in the reflection of the sky in the cool river waters. A tiny cabin peeks indistinctly through the thicket before the hints of mountains that purple the furthest stretch of the horizon. A nearly cloudless sky doesn't cast light strong enough to penetrate the full canopy of foliage along the left side of the painting, using shadows and rippling reflections to cast a highly interesting representation of a moment in Fontainebleau.
Biography:
An 1877 graduate of Columbia University's School of Mines, Robert W. Van Boskerck received his artistic education from Robert Swain Gifford and Alexander Wyant. As a landscapist, he preferred quiet, settled scenes drawn from his travels at home and abroad. During the early 1880s, he was concerned with views of New Jersey and Long Island, but trips overseas acquainted him with Holland, France, and England, countries whose landscape he often painted. Throughout the last decade of his artistic activity, he executed views of Adirondack scenery in Keene Valley, New York. (Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design, p. 548)
His work is presented in the The Haggin Museum (acc. no. 1931.391.155), the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum, MA, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY (acc. no. 06.42), Heckscher Museum, NY, the NY Historical Society, New York and at the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, MA. His work is featured in 26 books including Select Works: Fine American and European Paintings, III & IV(Caldwell), American Painting(Heckscher Museum), American Painting: A Special Exhibition(Schwarz-Philadelphia), and Revisiting the White City: American Art at the 1893 World's Fair(Carr). Despite his relatively conservative landscape style, Van Boskerck was elected to the Society of American Artists in 1887.
Measurements: [framed] 35 3/4" high x 41" wide; [canvas] 26" high x 32 1/8" wide
Condition Report:
[OVERALL] Excellent conserved condition. Relined on new stretchers, original labels and slivers of stretcher retained. Minor dings and cracks to frame. Craquelure to surface of the painting.
[UNDER UV] Mid-Left quadrant in painting in shape of a sideways T (3/4" dash by 1/2" dash); Sky fluoresces either due to craquelure touch-ups or due to fresh varnish permeating the craquelure - probably from both; possible in painting in lower left quadrant, though it is difficult to be certain through the more recent varnish; other minor touch ups visible in the high-res image under UV: note the difference in shade under UV, as this is two images stitched together to show appropriate lighting. Please review all images in the slideshow for a full overview of condition.
