Lot 51
  • 51

JASPER FRANCIS CROPSEY | Mediterranean Ruins

Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Jasper Francis Cropsey
  • Mediterranean Ruins
  • signed J. F. Cropsey and dated 1890 (lower left)
  • oil on canvas
  • 28 by 52 inches
  • (71.1 by 132.1 cm)

Provenance

The artist
Constance Wach Mead (his granddaughter), Flosmoor, Illinois, 1906 (by descent)
James Reinhardt, Newark, Delaware, by 1973
Acquired by the present owner, 1993

Literature

William S. Talbot, Jasper F. Cropsey 1823-1900, New York, 1977, no. 241, p. 479, illustrated fig. 228

Condition

The canvas is unlined and there is frame abrasion at the extreme edges. There is a patch on the reverse that appears to correspond to a repair near the structure left of center. Under UV: there appears to be scattered dots and lines of inpainting throughout, primarily in the sky.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Jasper Francis Cropsey produced two earlier versions of this composition, an undated preparatory oil study and an 1883 oil on canvas. The present work is the largest version of this subject and hung in the artist’s Westchester, New York studio until the time of his death. Mediterranean Ruins reflects Cropsey’s romantic feelings toward the Italian landscape, which he visited often during the 1840s and 1850s.

This painting will be included in the forthcoming Volume III of the catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work to be published by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.