1956.237: Sketch for "The Discoverer" Fresco, Assembly Chamber, State Capitol, Albany, New York
Drawings
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1956.237
- People
-
William Morris Hunt, American (Brattleboro, VT 1824 - 1879 Isles of Shoals, NH)
- Title
- Sketch for "The Discoverer" Fresco, Assembly Chamber, State Capitol, Albany, New York
- Classification
- Drawings
- Work Type
- drawing
- Date
- 1878
- Culture
- American
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/308485
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Pastel on heavy brown wove paper
- Dimensions
- 31.8 x 46.5 cm (12 1/2 x 18 5/16 in.)
- Inscriptions and Marks
-
- label: verso, paper, printed: 155
- inscription: verso, graphite: 155
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Estate of the artist; James A. O'Neill, Boston; sold to Fogg Art Museum, 1956.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gifts for Special Uses Fund, through the generosity of Mrs. George R. Agassiz, Mrs. Raymond Emerson, Dr. Alexander Forbes, Mr. Edward W. Forbes, Mrs. Isabella Grandin, The Honorable and Mrs. John F. Perkins, and Mr. Quincy A. Shaw
- Accession Year
- 1956
- Object Number
- 1956.237
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
- "The Discoverer" was a fresco painted on the south wall of the Assembly Chamber of the State House, Albany, New York. It depicts Christopher Columbus on a boat, guided by personifications of Faith, Hope, and Science and accompanied by the figure of Fortune. This fresco, along with its companion, "The Flight of Night," are now hidden by a dropped ceiling. See Sally Webster's 1991 book on Hunt for detailed information on these sketches and the frescoes.See Fogg drawings 1936.10.64, 1936.10.66, 1949.21, 1956.238, 1956.239, and 1956.240 for other drawings for this fresco.
Publication History
- Sally Webster, "The Albany Murals of William Morris Hunt: Their Commission and Meaning", Proceedings of the New York State Capitol Symposium, Temporary State Commission on the Restoration of the Capitol (Albany, NY, 1983), p. 108
- Natalie Spassky, Linda Bantel, Doreen Bolger Burke, Meg Perlman, and Amy L. Walsh, American Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Volume II: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1816 and 1845, ed. Kathleen Luhrs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Princeton University Press (New York, 1985), p. 218
- Sara Webster, "The Albany Murals of William Morris Hunt" (Thesis, City University of New York, 1985), Unpublished, p. 186, fig. 82
- 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. 280-281, cat. 228, ill
- Mark D. Mitchell, The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876-1917, exh. cat., Yale University Press (New Haven, 2024), cat. no. 39, p. 114, repr.
Exhibition History
- The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876-1917, Yale University Art Gallery, 09/05/2024 - 01/05/2025
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