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One man stands on a mountain ledge waving his hat, while two figures climb up the rocks in the foreground.

A man stands on the ledge of a mountain, waving his hat with his right hand, and leaning on a cane-like object with his left hand. The view behind him is a hazy vista, featuring more mountains. There are trees protruding from the side of the ledge, as well as along the left hand-side of the image. There are two additional figures in the bottom left corner, which appear to be climbing up to the ledge. The three people are tiny figures in comparison with the vast landscape backdrop.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.1
People
Sanford Robinson Gifford, American (Greenfield, NY 1823 - 1880 New York, NY)
Title
A Ledge on South Mountain, in the Catskills
Other Titles
Former Title: Kaaterskill Clove
Former Title: Kauterskill Clove
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1861-1862
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States, New York State
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/31155

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
32.7 x 27.3 cm (12 7/8 x 10 3/4 in.)
frame: 43.8 x 38.1 x 5.7 cm (17 1/4 x 15 x 2 1/4 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Gift from the artist to Dr. James C. Gifford; to his cousin by marriage, Mrs. Sanford R. (Alice) Gifford; to her son, Dr. Sanford Gifford, Cambridge, MA, 1985; his gift to the Harvard Art Museums, 2006.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Sanford Gifford, M.D.
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.1
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • John F. Weir, A Memorial Catalogue of the Paintings of Sanford Robinson Gifford, N.A., exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1881), no. 298
  • Ila Weiss, Sanford R. Gifford, Garland Publishers, Inc. (New York, 1977), pp. 231-232, fig. VII C 10
  • Ila Weiss, Poetic Landscape: The Art and Experience of Sanford R. Gifford, University of Delaware Press (Newark, DE, 1987), p. 230 (ill.), p. 231
  • Sandra Kelberlau, "How One Landscape-Painter Paints: The Technique of Sanford Robinson Gifford" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, June 2006), Unpublished, pp. 1-8 passim
  • Michael Altman, Kevin Avery, and Donald Christensen, An Artist's Legacy and a Dealer's Admiration: Paintings by Sanford Robinson Gifford from Important American Collections, exh. cat., Michael Altman Fine Art & Advisory Services, LLC (New York, NY, 2012), pl. 14
  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. and Melissa Renn, American Paintings at Harvard, Volume One: Paintings, Watercolors, and Pastels by Artists Born before 1826, Yale University Press (U.S.) and Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge and New Haven, 2014), pp. 34, 222-23, cat. 173, ill.
  • James D. Balestrieri, "Museum Preview: Catskill, NY: Connecting with the Land", American Fine Art Magazine (May/June 2017), pp. 88-89, repr. p. 88
  • Kevin J. Avery, Sanford R. Gifford in the Catskills, exh. cat., Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Catskill, New York, 2017), pp. 23-24, repr. p. 24 as fig. 21 and detail on cover image

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/07/2018 - 07/09/2018
  • Sanford R. Gifford in the Catskills, Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Catskill, 04/30/2017 - 10/29/2017

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project
  • Collection Highlights

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu