Rare Cropsey paintings sell for 100 times estimates
- May 16, 2011 16:46
Two recently rediscovered works by 19th c. Hudson River School artist Jasper F. Cropsey fetched a total of $840,000 at a Clarke Auction in Larchmont, New York, on May 15.
A winter hunting scene at Niagara Falls snowballed to $552,000 from a $50,000 opening bid. There is a preliminary pencil sketch for the work in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A circa-1860 autumn view of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, estimated at $40,000-$60,000, sold for $288,000. Both works measure 15-by-24 inches.
Kept for decades in a basement recreation room, the previously unknown oil-on-canvas paintings were brought into an appraisal day held by Clarke's.
Each work has been authenticated and will be included in the Newington Cropsey Foundation's forthcoming catalogue raisonné.