Description:
In 1852, painter Charles Louis Heyde traveled north from his home in Brooklyn, New York, to southern Vermont for a season of painting. His landscapes — which were painted in the Hudson River School tradition — already had been exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and the Boston Athenaeum. Like other Hudson River School painters, Heyde took his inspiration from the broad forms of nature, demanding that his paintings be life-like; that nature appear beautiful and inspiring, and that the picture present the moral elements of bucolic simplicity and virtue. His work caught the attention of poet Walt Whitman, which led to a lifelong relationship between the two artists. While visiting Whitman in Brooklyn, Heyde met the poet’s sister, Hannah, whom he married in April of 1852. For the next four years, Heyde painted scenes in the southern part of Vermont and in the Connecticut River Valley. The landscapes of this period stand out as some of his best paintings. After each season of painting, Heyde sold a few works in the area and then returned to Brooklyn to complete the other paintings and exhibit them. Framed landscape oil on canvas painting by Charles Louis Heyde (1822-1892), entitled "A Country Landscape." Painting is signed "Heyde" in the lower right hand corner. "A Country Landscape" is thought to be a Southern Vermont view. Painting depicts a dirt country road in Wapping, Massachusetts, the foreground flanked by a wooden fence. In the middle ground are several trees in shades of green, light brown, and orange foliage and a two story home with smoking chimney can be seen. In the rear is a hill or low mountain. Unlined. Frame is probably original. HD 2020.20.1 is framed in original frame identically this painting with a frame stock often used by Heyde. This Heyde painting and 2020.2.1 were first owned by the Greenfield, MA, antiquarian Solon Newton. A newspaper article in the Springfield Sunday Republican June 16, 1895, references the two paintings, "On the walls hang a fine old mirror and two oil paintings by C. L. Heyde, painted in 1853. One of is the Connecticut River valley from a point near Prospect HIll school, and the other is a roadside view in Wapping."
Label Text:
Building a Collection, September 27, 2025-February 23, 2025:The Hudson River School artist Charles Louis Heyde traveled north to the Connecticut River Valley and southern Vermont to capture the bucolic natural scenery of New England. In these three landscapes, Heyde focused on the Greenfield River, the Wapping section of Deerfield, MA, and the bridge from Cheapside to what is now Montague City. Similar to other Hudson River School artists, Heyde directly observed the environment and depicted the truthful elements of the landscape, including the rolling farm fields, distant mount ranges, and hints of fall foliage. Through his painting practice, he intended to represent the beauty of nature and its bucolic virtues. In these scenes, he still included signs of the encroaching industrialization in the Deerfield area, including the railroad tracks, which entered the Deerfield landscape in 1844. After painting in the region for a season, Heyde often returned to Brooklyn to complete his work and exhibit the New England landscapes. With his own focus upon nature and the environment, the American poet Walt Whitman was drawn to Heyde’s work, and the two developed a friendship.
Tags:
landscapes Subjects:
Landscapes; Canvas Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2020.20.2 |
