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Jasper
Cropsey, 1823-1900
Apple
Blossoms, 1887
Oil on canvas laid on panel
12 1/8 x 21 1/8 in.
When he
was only thirteen years old, Jasper Cropsey built an
entirely handcrafted model of a house and entered it in a
New York competition. Not only did he win an award at the
1837 fair of the Mechanics Institute of the City of New
York, he attracted the attention of a local architect who
offered him an internship with his firm. Cropsey's native
artistic abilities were quickly recognized by his employers,
and he was encouraged to work in watercolors and oils.
Cropsey completed his course of study and by 1843 was a
practicing architect and artist. His mature painting style
was influenced by two extended trips to Europe and the
writings of philosophers and aestheticians such as Ralph
Waldo Emerson and Sir Joshua Reynolds. By the 1850s, Cropsey
began to paint what became his specialty - the New England
autumn with its glorious and brilliant color. Throughout his
life he continued to work in a careful, meticulous manner
that no doubt derived from his early architectural
training.