Sanford Robinson Gifford

Blog Posts - (2)

Blog Posts tagged with Sanford Robinson Gifford

Sanford Robinson Gifford, "Whiteface Mountain from Lake Placid," 1866. Oil on canvas, 11 5/8 x 19 5/8 in.

An August Invitation

Posted: August 24, 2011 13:10 Last Updated: | Paul G. Stein

"My dear McEntee…"On August 28, 1863, Sanford Robinson Gifford wrote to Jervis McEntee from a book shop at Saratoga Spa in northern New York State (the original letter is digitized on the Smithsonian Archives of American Art website). Gifford had recently returned from his final tour of duty with the New York Seventh Regiment in the Civil War. He was attempting to gather his friends, including artists Richard William Hubbard and Worthington Whittredge, for a sketching tour of northern New York. His letter is a revealing glimpse of the affection and humor that characterized the close relati...

Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880) - Mount Merino - 1861 - 11x22 inches

View from a Hill

Posted: February 09, 2011 18:06 Last Updated: | Paul G. Stein

Reclining under a tree, on a hill overlooking his hometown along the Hudson River, Sanford Gifford made a decision that would save his family business. According to the story later told by his artist friend Worthington Whittredge, it would have been in the mid-1840s, perhaps summer. Sanford had taken early leave of Brown University in 1844. He didn’t want a life in business, or letters, or as his mother wished, the church. Sanford had an inclination for art. "It was one of the greatest pleasures of my boyhood to look at and study the miscellaneous collection of engravings which covered th...