"Mount Vernon in Virginia"

DatePossibly 1818-1830

MediumWatercolor, pencil, and ink on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary support: 14 9/16 x 19 3/4in. (37 x 50.2cm); Composition: 12 5/8 x 17 5/16in. (32.1 x 44cm); and Framed: 18 x 23 1/8in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1933.302.2

DescriptionWatercolor depiction of a rolling landscape with light brown mansion and outbuildings on hill in center. Picture done in soft muted shades of light brown and green including the house which is of the same tonality as lawn in front of it. Water and distant hills and sky have same soft blue highlights. The edge was probably intended to simulate a black glass mat: there is an inner strip of black and then a line of tan, then a black margin about 1 inch wide. Trees in front of the house and to the side cast in shadows.
The 2-inch gilded cyma recta frame with applied bead molding is a period replacment.
Label TextMOUNT VERNON IN VIRGINIA is one of three watercolors owned by the Folk Art Museum based on the same print source; the others are accession numbers 1931.302.1 and 1979.302.4. In 1933.302.2, the positions and shapes of the trees and shrubs, the general contours of the land, and the fence that runs erratically through the middle ground are all particulars of design that confirm the unidentified artist's reliance upon Francis Jukes's 1800 engraving after Alexander Robertson's rendering of George Washington's home [note1].
However, the competent watercolorist of this view apparently tried to correct and update Jukes in some respects. Jukes probably followed Robertson's design in oversimplifying the mansion's Palladian window and in placing it too high on the north elevation of the house, inaccuracies that were faithfully copied by the artists of 1931.302.1 and 1979.302.4. The artist of 1933.302.2 more accurately represented the complexity of the window and lowered it, although the amount it was lowered is admittedly overdone. Here, the window is shown at ground level rather than a few feet above it, as is true of the actual construction.
The low balustrade shown above the porch is another point of interest, for this feature did not exist in Washington's time. Architectural historians believe it probably was added between 1818 and 1822, and it has long since been removed from the building. Its inclusion here helps date the picture. Accession number 1931.302.1, executed in 1842, also includes the balustrade [note 2].
ProvenanceCornelius Michaelsen; Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; Given to C. W. by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.