Sunset at Point Judith Light

This painting will be included in the forthcoming supplement to Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr.'s catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.

A recent discovery, Sunset at Point Judith Light has been described by Heade scholar Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. as "an important addition to Heade’s oeuvre" and is a rare and striking example of the artist's marine pictures. Known primarily for his sublime images of marshlands and meadows, Martin Johnson Heade experimented with various subjects throughout his career, including still lifes, wildlife and, as in the case of the present work, marine and coastal scenes. Heade's seascapes reflect the artist's focus on atmosphere and the dramatic effects of light, especially the vivid color experienced at sunset, as seen in Sunset at Point Judith Light.

Dr. Stebbins writes, "Heade spent the summer of 1869 painting around Narragansett Bay...The distinctive octagonal granite Point Judith, R.I., lighthouse with its adjacent buildings are seen on a promontory in the right middle-ground, while in the foreground one sees two men pulling their sloop, with its sail down, up on the beach at what appears to be high tide. The large scale of the figures and the detailed architecture are unusual features for Heade...The sun’s pink light is effectively reflected in the waves as they wash up to shore..." (unpublished letter, February 4, 2021) The glowing sky reflected in the calmly lapping sea is exemplary of the artist's distinctive Luminist technique and the painting itself serves as a unique and stunning example of Heade's marine pictures.

The original owner of the present work, A. Emil Prinz (1851-1919) was a prominent art dealer, frame maker and artist in Brooklyn, New York at the turn of the twentieth century. A painter of pastoral landscapes, Prinz exhibited his work at the National Academy in 1896 among Heade’s contemporaries, including George Inness, Edward Moran and Samuel Coleman.