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Rare Cropsey paintings sell for 100 times estimates

16 May 2011

Jasper F. Cropsey, "Prospect Point, Niagara Falls in Winter." N.D., after 1856. Signed lower left.

(Clarke Auction)

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Jasper F. Cropsey, "Autumn in America" c. 1860. Signed lower right.

(Clarke Auction)

Two recently rediscovered works by 19th c. Hudson River School artist Jasper F. Cropsey fetched a total of $840,000 at a Clarke Auction in Larchmont, New York, on May 15.

A winter hunting scene at Niagara Falls snowballed to $552,000 from a $50,000 opening bid. There is a preliminary pencil sketch for the work in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

A circa-1860 autumn view of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, estimated at $40,000-$60,000, sold for $288,000. Both works measure 15-by-24 inches.

Kept for decades in a basement recreation room, the previously unknown oil-on-canvas paintings were brought into an appraisal day held by Clarke's.

Each work has been authenticated and will be included in the Newington Cropsey Foundation's forthcoming catalogue raisonné.

Read more at New York Times

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