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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  • Sara Webster, "The Albany Murals of William Morris Hunt" (Thesis, City University of New York, 1985), Unpublished, p. 186, fig. 82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