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- Titles Overlooking the River From the Cliffs (Proper)
- Artist John Frederick Kensett, American, 1816 - 1872
- Medium oil on paper laid down on canvas
- Dimensions 9 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (23.5 x 32.1 cm) frame: 19 13/16 × 23 1/4 × 3 1/4 in. (50.3 × 59.1 × 8.3 cm)
- Credit Line Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Harold E. Simon, 1978.42
- Work Type painting
- Classification Paintings
- Signature Unsigned
- Marks None
- Inscription Verso, top stretcher bar, center left, typed label with red boarder: JOHN FREDERICK KENSETT / Born in Chesire, Conn., Mar 22[last character blurred], 1818 / Died in New York Dec 16, 1872 / Landscape Painter Verso, top stretcher bar, on canvas and tacking tape, top center right, red marker: K’No. 25 Exh. Of 19th / AMER. LDSE PTGS. / 5/1-5/28/69 Verso, top stretcher bar, green typed label: 43 [ripped] Verso, top stretcher bar, right, black marker: A14403 Verso, top stretcher bar, top right, incised: #23425 [damage to stretcher bar; unable to discern if there are any numbers after 5] / #23174 / 10 x 13 4 [illegible] Verso, left stretcher bar, over canvas, top left, black pen: B.M.A. 78.42 Verso, bottom stretcher bar, bottom left, typed label: Artist KENSETT, JOHN F. Dates 1816-1872 / Title OVER-LOOKING THE RIVER FROM / THE CLIFFS / Size 9 ¾ x 13 ½ Medium Oil/canvas / Stock Number A14403 Neg. No. 8311 68[circled] / FINE PRINTS AND AMERICAN PAINTINGS / KENNEDY GALLERIES, INC. - 20 EAST 56th STREET / FOUNDED 1874 BY H. WUNDERLICH New York, N. Y. 10022 Verso, bottom stretcher bar, center, typed gallery label: FINE PRINTS AND AMERICAN PAINTINGS / Kennedy Galleries, Inc. / Founded 1874 by H. Wunderlich / 20 East 56th Street New York, N. Y. 10022 / 98248 [added in black marker Frame, recto, bottom center, black paint on metal: J. F. KENSETT Frame, verso, liner, bottom right, black marker: M.A. 78.42 (first letter obscured by screw) Frame, verso, bottom frame rail, center, typed label: Gill & Lagodich / FINE PERIOD FRAMES & RESTORATION / 108 READE STREET NEW YORK N.Y. 10013 / TEL: 212-619-0631 * FAX: 212-285-1353 / INVENTORY No. / 9134-VAR [in black ink]
- Provenance John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872). Mr. B. M. Allen or Mrs. B. Allen (possibly Bernard M. Allen and Emma Allen), Cheshire, Connecticut, by 1935 [see note 1]. Private dealer in Connecticut; consigned to dealer Kennedy Galleries, New York, June 1968 [see note 2]; purchased by David Bischoff (1930-2016), Amherst, Massachusetts, May 1969 [see note 3]; by exchange to dealer Vose Galleries, Boston [see note 4]; purchased (in part by exchange) by Dr. Harold E. Simon (1897-1982) and Mrs.Regina P. Simon (1899-1995), Birmingham, Alabama, July 8, 1971 [see note 5]; gift to the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1978
1. According to Kennedy Galleries provenance given to Virginia Badgett by Martha Fleischman, Kennedy Galleries, Inc., in phone conversation on October 16, 2019. Also, according to report given to Harold E. Simon by S. Morton Vose, II of Vose Galleries, June 10, 1971, B. M. Allen loaned 1978.42 to an exhibition at the Connecticut Tercentenary Celebration, Cheshire, Connecticut, August 15, 1935 - August 18, 1935. The label for the exhibition remains on the back of the painting.
2. Per phone conversation between Badgett and Fleischman, October 16, 2019. According to the report from Vose Galleries referenced in note 1, 1978.42 was with Kennedy Galleries before it was owned by David Bischoff. A Kennedy Galleries label on the left of the bottom stretcher of 1978.42 lists the stock no. A14403. A second Kennedy Galleries label on the right of the bottom stretcher is annotated with “98248” in black marker. An annotation on the photo of 1978.42 at the Frick Photo Archives in New York indicates “At one time prior to 2005, with Kennedy Galleries.” The photo has the stock no. A14403.
3. Per phone conversation between Badgett and Fleischman, October 16, 2019.
4. According to same report referenced in note 1, Vose Galleries received 1978.42 from David Bischoff “in partial exchange for a much more expensive picture.”
5. The receipt for 1978.42 from Vose Galleries to Harold E. Simon, dated July 8, 1971, indicates that Simon traded “Get Lost” by William Holbrook Beard as partial payment for 1978.42.