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Mount Washington in Autumn
Charles Wilson Knapp (1823-1900)
Signed lower right: CWKnapp
Not dated, probably 1860-80
Oil on canvas, 20 x 36 inches
Private collection
As the North Conway area became more accessible for tourists, the mountains served less as a source of awe and inspiration than as a site for leisurely vacations and physical recreation. North Conway's mix of gentle, pastoral imagery and rugged mountain vistas provided ideal subject matter for artists. Charles Wilson Knapp captured one of New England's most admired and frequently painted vistas in this view of Mount Washington from Sunset Hill in North Conway. John Frederick Kensett had made the scene famous through his landscape Mount Washington from the Valley of Conway, painted from sketches made in the summer and autumn of 1850. The American Art-Union purchased the painting in 1851 and circulated an engraving after it to the organization's more than thirteen thousand subscribers.
