Thomas Worthington Whittredge, Scene on the Upper Delaware, State of New York. Estimate $50,000–70,000.
With regards to the present work, Anthony F. Janson states that, "The essential qualities of his style are demonstrated by a group of landscapes along the Delaware River, which lies southwest of the Catskills, just beyond the Shawungunk River. The masterpiece among these paintings is Scene on the Upper Delaware, State of New York . . . In it the intuitive apprehension of light receives its most radiant expression of all Whittredge's paintings. He uses a myriad of small, pointed brushstrokes to suggest forms through the sparkling play of colored light across the landscape, which achieves an extraordinary range of visual effect surpassing anything he had painted before. Light becomes the expression of an immediate, yet profoundly lyrical response to a visual impression. The serene naturalism evinces an unusual receptiveness to nature, which the artist allows to speak directly through his innately poetic sensibility." (see Anthony F. Janson, op. cit., p. 131)