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John F. Kensett (American, 1816-1872) "Singing Beach & Eagle Rock, Magnolia, Massachusetts"

John F. Kensett (American, 1816-1872) "Singing Beach & Eagle Rock, Magnolia, Massachusetts"John F. Kensett (American, 1816-1872) "Singing Beach & Eagle Rock, Magnolia, Massachusetts"

Hammer Price w/ BP

$1,080,000

Lot #: 34
John F. Kensett (American, 1816-1872) "Singing Beach & Eagle Rock, Magnolia, Massachusetts"

oil on canvas. signed & dated ‘J.F. K. ‘68’ (lower left)

LITERATURE

Alice Winchester, Antiques, Volumes 65-66, New York, Straight Enterprises, 1954, pg. 207

Exhibition catalogue, Privately Owned: An Exhibition of Furniture, Decorative Arts and Paintings on Loan from Private Collectors of the Buffalo Area, The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy - Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 1958, p.18, #40

Newsletter, Albright Knox Art Gallery Calendar – March 1983, pg. 2

EXHIBITED

Buffalo, New York, The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy - Albright Art Gallery, Privately Owned: an Exhibition of Furniture, Decorative Arts and Paintings on Loan from Private Collectors of the Buffalo Area, May - June 1958.

Buffalo, New York, The Albright Knox Art Gallery, 19th Century Landscapes from Buffalo Collections, January 29 – March 30, 1983

22 in. x 36 in.
Provenance
Harry Shaw Newman (Old Print Shop), New York, NY, around 1950
Jaap A. Vandenbergh, Nassau Galleries, Andover, MA.
Victor D. Spark, New York, NY, acquired 1954
Mrs. Adrian Smith, (Lusyd Wright Keating), purchased in 1955
The collection of Mr. & Mrs. Roy W. Doolittle, Jr., Buffalo, NY, by bequest
Auction Date
Sep 18, 2021

Details:

Important Quotes Regarding "Singing Beach & Eagle Rock, Magnolia, Massachusetts"

“The Kensett strikes me as being a very fine one. The arrangement and colors are very clear and forceful—a good sign in Kensett’s work. The silence of these spare Kensett’s is very impressive”
John K. Howat, assistant curator of American paintings & sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - in a letter to Mrs. Adrian W. Smith on May 25, 1965

“I did some checking on the most outstanding Kensetts which have passed through our hands and feel certain that yours is the best one he painted”
Victor D. Spark - in a letter to Mrs. Adrian W. Smith on November 7, 1955

Your Kensett was an important element in the success of the show -- it really made the room glow. Several art historians, in fact, commented on its excellent. It really does rank with the most magnificent of his works, and we are grateful to have been able to show it in the context of his “peers.”
Susan Crane, Associate Curator, Albright Knox Art Gallery - in a letter to Mr. & Mrs. Roy W. Doolittle Jr. on March 24, 1983

DOCUMENTS:

Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive files, Kensett, John Frederick, 1816-1872, Beach Scene: Eagle Rock, Manchester, Massachusetts, b1328591 accessed May 8, 1953

MSS 0556, Mary Bartlett Cowdrey papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware, Box 4, F 107

Victor D. Spark papers, circa 1830-1983, bulk 1930-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Box 17, Folder 8: Ledger, 1953 - 1955, pg. 103

Victor D. Spark, New York, NY – Bill of sale, November 7, 1955.

John K. Howat, New York, NY – Letters and correspondence with Mrs. Adrian Smith, 1964 – 1965

Susan Crane, Associate Curator, Albright Knox Art Gallery – Letter, March 24, 1983

Edna M. Lindemann, Fine Arts Consultant & Appraiser, West Falls, NY – Insurance appraisal, July 31, 1986

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