Daniel Ridgway Knight

Private Collection
Vose Galleries, Boston (2001)
Private Collection, United States
Vose Galleries, Boston (2009)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is unlined and still stretched on its original stretcher. The paint layer is stable, clean and varnished. The painting is in beautiful condition. No weakness has developed to the paint layer and no retouches are visible under ultraviolet light. The work should be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

By the mid-1890s, Daniel Ridgway Knight established a contract with Knoedler which enabled the painter to sell his entire output through the famed art dealer, except for those he wished to sell privately on his own. Around the same time the artist also decided to purchase a third residence in Rolleboise, the likely setting of the present work. The house was "situated near the top of a high bluff overlooking the village and a bend of the Seine. The view was startlingly beautiful, stretching over cascading rooftops, the river, and miles and miles of fields, meadows, and lines of trees all the way to the horizon" (R. B. Knight, Ridgway Knight: A Master of the Pastoral Genre, exh. cat., Cornell University, 1989, p. 4). At this new home in the country, Ridgway Knight created an environment resembling the times prior to the industrial revolution. He never installed electricity or a bathroom with running water in the house. The purpose of this setting was to enhance and support his sole dedication to painting.