View of the Beach At Beverly, Massachusetts
John Frederick KENSETT
(American, 1816-1872)
View of the Beach At Beverly, Massachusetts
Date1860
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 14 1/4 x 24 1/4 in. (36.2 x 61.6 cm)
frame: 21 x 31 x 2 1/2 in. (53.3 x 78.7 x 6.4 cm)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton to the Preston Morton Collection
Object number1960.68
Subject(s)
- beach
- ocean
- boat
- dog
Collection
- 19th century American
- American
Sub-Collection(s)
- Luminism
- Marine
- American
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label TextKensett is known for pristinely beautiful seascapes like this one, in which nature as revealed by light emanates a spiritual quality. Kensett initially trained as an engraver and his eye for small detail is evident throughout this meticulously observed composition. Travel throughout Europe in the company of Asher B. Durand, among others associated with the Hudson River School, convinced him to commit to landscape painting. Unlike Thomas Cole, for example, he forewent the overt summoning of grand allegorical themes. Everything presented here is believably organic. If the driftwood in the foreground in the shape of a foreshortened cross alludes to the divine, it does so quietly. The complete suppression of visible brushwork, common to Luminist technique, suggests a transcendental, non-manmade source.
