Jervis McEntee (1828-1891)
- Jervis McEntee (1828‒1891)
- View of the Catskills at Rondout, New York, 1870
- Oil on canvas mounted on board
- 7 ¾ x 12 ¾ inches
- Signed and dated August 12, 1870, lower right
View of the Catskills at Rondout, New York represents one of McEntee's favored subjects, as well as his penchant for the sober phases of nature. Dense foliage sits heavy at the bottom of the painting, and its separated from the empty, gray sky by a delicate band of undulating mountains, all rendered with great clarity and economy in this oil sketch. As the sun disappears behind dark, heavy clouds, the solemn moment of twilight descends upon this still, August landscape. Indeed, key biographer of American Artists, Henry T. Tuckerman observes that McEntee's paintings “not only give the sensation but awaken the mood appropriate to the time they respectively delineate and suggest.”
