Mountain Scenery

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In the Notch by John White Allen Scott (1815-1907), oil on canvas, 1857. This painting was owned by Ellen D. Hill (1828-1917) of Concord, the daughter of New Hampshire coach manufacturer Lewis Downing and the wife of dry goods merchant Joseph C. A. Hill (1820-1901). Ellen Hill gave the painting to the Society as a bequest in 1917.

The new exhibition Mountain Scenery, on view at the New Hampshire Historical Society’s museum, features 19th-century New Hampshire landscape paintings by 17 artists. Included in the exhibition are signature works of White Mountain art, newly conserved paintings, and recent additions to the Society’s collection.

Featured artists are Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Benjamin Champney (1817-1907), Frederic E. Church (1826-1900), Jasper F. Cropsey (1823-1900), Thomas Doughty (1793-1856), Samuel L. Gerry (1813-91), Thomas Corwin Lindsay (1839-1907), Roderick E. Miller (1828-1911), Edward Hill (1843-1923), Thomas Hill (1829–1908), John Ross Key (1837-1920), W. H. Phelps (?-?), William Preston Phelps (1848-1923), Frank H. Shapleigh (1842-1906), John White Allen Scott (1815-1907), John Paul Selinger (1850-1909), and Franklin Stanwood (1852–88) .

Mountain Scenery is on view through December 31, 2013. To learn more about landscape paintings in the Society's museum collection explore our online museum catalog. Discover more about White Mountain art and artists in our online exhibition Consuming Views: Art and Tourism in the White Mountains, 1850-1900 and by visiting the website White Mountain Art and Artists.

Mountain Scenery is funded in part by the Robert and Dorothy Goldberg Charitable Foundation with additional support from the Robert O. Wilson, D.D.S., Historical Research Fund, Eleanor Briggs, and the Una Mason Collins Fund.

Mountain Scenery

Nineteenth-century paintings depicting the White Mountains in winter, the least hospitable season of the year, are rare. Artists traditionally retreated during the winter to their studios in the city, where they worked from sketches made during the summer months. Franklin Stanwood (1852–88), though best known as a marine artist, captured in his 1886 painting, Mount Lafayette, an engaging scene not witnessed by most tourists. This unique painting captures a view along the Gale River, looking south through Franconia Notch and featuring Mount Lafayette, the snow-covered peak in the center background. New Hampshire Historical Society, gift of John J. and Joan R. Henderson.