Antique Oil Landscape

No visible signature. Late 1800's to early 1900's?
Thanks

 

Nice painting. I think you are probably right about the time frame. When I see that fine grain brownish canvas, I usually think European in origin. It is not a tell-all characteristic but I find it to be true more often than not. The fact that you have an American stretcher is not always indicative either. The painting could have been imported unstretched. The lack of a signature leads me to think this could be a decorative scenic painting. A lot of such paintings were imported from Germany during this time frame.

 

Thanks for the reply. Never thought that it could have been imported unstretched.
Is it something common for that period the decorative paintings from Europe to be unsigned? Like nowadays and some time ago the decorative pieces bear signatures but they mean nothing. At the same time I guess there is a lot of old art by famous and not that famous artists been unsigned.

 

I don't think 'Swamp in the rain' would be my first choice for a decorative subject.

 

Might just be cut down from its original size, with siggy lost in the process.

 

Good point. This happens more often than we know.

 

LOL! Kardinal. I am a sucker for those atmospheric, somewhat blurry landscapes.

Now really, Af -- can't you just hear the spring peepers??

 

This work certainly has that Beaux-Arts feel, and a Carot influence, I would think. I'd expect to see his influence in hobby and student work during from 1880-1910.

 

Or possibly the siggy could be under the stretcher bar but I have no intention to tear it apart.
Thanks for the Corot hint, it does seem to be influenced by his style.

 

I think verybrad's post #2 is good.

This is a Barbizon School type picture. I'm guessing 1880s based on stretcher. There was a huge fad for Barbizon style pictures in America, 1880s & 90s. A mass of imports came in from France, Germany.

Thayer and Chandler is still in business.

 

Yes thanks for correcting me, I meant Barbizon not Beaux-Arts and I spelled the artist's name wrong, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.

 

Corot was a prolific painter. I once heard he painted about 5000 pictures in his life, of which about 50,000 are in the United States alone.

 

He was also a prolific teacher, and many of the works signed by him or ascribed to him, have now been discredited as not by his hand. He also took a page from the old masters, of having a student start the work and in a final short hour he would deftly add a few highlights, smooth out the atmospherics and make a few of his trademark floating daisies before he signed the piece. The student could sell the work as a signed Corot, and thereby afford to take more lessons from the master.

ps. your numbers don't add up, but I get the point.

 

I thought I "got it" meaning so many more were copied? No?

 

Copied, faked... you name it.

 

As an aside: I recognize Jeeps when I see them. That's about it. Therefore, when I saw this weird-looking car, (looks as if it had been squeezed out of a toothpaste tube) outside a garage with a sale sign on it, I had no clue. I was informed that it was a Corvette and the owner wanted $40,000 for it.

At that price, one really expects that such a vehicle would be painted bright red. But $40,000 for a dark blue Chevy? I don't think so!

 

I'd be taking that outer frame off to get a better look. It certainly is a later addition.