Jervis McEntee - Autumn Landscape 1862

Details

Description

Jervis McEntee (1828–1891)
“Twilight Landscape with Figures”
Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1862

Description:

A poignant and beautifully restrained … Read more Jervis McEntee (1828–1891)
“Twilight Landscape with Figures”
Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1862

Description:

A poignant and beautifully restrained landscape by renowned Hudson River School painter Jervis McEntee, this 1862 work exemplifies the artist’s deeply atmospheric and introspective approach to nature. Painted at the outset of the American Civil War, the composition reflects a somber tonal shift that paralleled McEntee’s personal and national experience during a time of profound uncertainty.

In this twilight scene, a woman and child walk a quiet path toward a modest farmhouse, its chimney emitting a soft plume of smoke. Bare trees, muted earth tones, and a subdued sky suggest the stillness of late autumn or early winter—a setting McEntee often favored for its emotional resonance. The sparseness of the landscape is imbued with a quiet dignity and sense of reflection that became a hallmark of McEntee’s mature style.

McEntee was a close associate of Frederic Church and Sanford Gifford, yet unlike many of his contemporaries who celebrated grandeur and heroism in nature, McEntee specialized in the poetry of solitude and transition. His paintings often emphasize mood over spectacle, and this example—painted during a time when many artists were shifting focus due to war—is a rare early expression of that sensibility.

Works from 1862 are especially scarce and desirable, representing a critical moment in both the artist’s life and the nation’s history. The delicate interplay of light, space, and figure here conveys both narrative intimacy and broader allegorical significance.

Condition:
The painting remains in very good condition for its age, with a stable surface and attractive craquelure typical of 19th-century oils. Appears relined and with scattered in-painting. Presented in possibly original frame. See less