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Lot Essay
Already an acclaimed Hudson River School painter, in the mid-1850s, John Frederick Kensett began to shift his aesthetic toward a more luminist treatment of light and form. The artist “became well known for his ability to endow a scene with his own tranquil, poetic feeling. [He] shifted from the more conventional anecdotal picturesque mode derived from the tradition of [Thomas] Cole and [Asher] Durand, to the quiet openness, light, and simplification of form, color, and composition that is now recognized as his mature style and associated with the phenomenon of ‘luminism.’” (J. Driscoll, John Frederick Kensett: An American Master, exhibition catalogue, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1985, p. 99) Over the following years, he would fully realize his mastery of the poetic seascape in works inspired by the New England shore, such as On the Coast.
Painted in 1870, the present work was executed during a period when Kensett was traveling broadly, including trips on the Mississippi River and, with Sanford Gifford and Worthington Whittredge, to Colorado and the Rockies. However, New England would remain his favorite subject, and he frequently revisited the coastal landscapes there to explore different effects of light and atmosphere. For example, he painted the shoreline of Beverly, Massachusetts, more than twenty times between 1859 and 1872, an environment which may have also inspired the present work.
In On the Coast, Kensett has created a palpable sense of atmosphere, where one can almost feel the warmth of the sun as the sky, sand and sea bathe in its light. The scene is at once sublime and peaceful, as the figures along the beach and ships along the horizon become dwarfed by the expansive ocean. With this scaling and perspective, the work explores the relationship between mankind and nature, a classic Hudson River School theme dating back to masters Cole and Durand and celebrated throughout Kensett’s oeuvre. With its beautiful execution, crystalline light and exceptional composition, the present example radiates the qualities of Kensett’s most successful coastal scenes and serves as a striking example of his mature, luminist style.
Painted in 1870, the present work was executed during a period when Kensett was traveling broadly, including trips on the Mississippi River and, with Sanford Gifford and Worthington Whittredge, to Colorado and the Rockies. However, New England would remain his favorite subject, and he frequently revisited the coastal landscapes there to explore different effects of light and atmosphere. For example, he painted the shoreline of Beverly, Massachusetts, more than twenty times between 1859 and 1872, an environment which may have also inspired the present work.
In On the Coast, Kensett has created a palpable sense of atmosphere, where one can almost feel the warmth of the sun as the sky, sand and sea bathe in its light. The scene is at once sublime and peaceful, as the figures along the beach and ships along the horizon become dwarfed by the expansive ocean. With this scaling and perspective, the work explores the relationship between mankind and nature, a classic Hudson River School theme dating back to masters Cole and Durand and celebrated throughout Kensett’s oeuvre. With its beautiful execution, crystalline light and exceptional composition, the present example radiates the qualities of Kensett’s most successful coastal scenes and serves as a striking example of his mature, luminist style.