An October Day in the White Mountains (1854): Art, History and Details

An October Day in the White Mountains (1854) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is John Frederick Kensett (American, 1816–1872).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

After railroad service to the area was improved in the early 1850s, the White Mountains in New Hampshire became a favored destination for tourists and artists seeking to commune with nature. New York-based Kensett painted several views, including this distant rendering across the Saco River of Mount Chocorua, one of the most distinctive peaks in the region.

Object facts

• Title: An October Day in the White Mountains
• Date: 1854
• Creator attribution: John Frederick Kensett (American, 1816–1872)
• Culture: United States
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 107.6 x 152.1 x 12.7 cm (42 3/8 x 59 7/8 x 5 in.); Unframed: 79.8 x 123.5 cm (31 7/16 x 48 5/8 in.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1967.5

A detail from the museum

Kensett was a selfless individual known for his charity work and helping fellow artists.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund and various donors by exchange

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mark Sullivan, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Feb. 13, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
• Cobb, Josephine. The Washington Art Association: An Exhibition Record, 1856-1860. [Washington, D.C.]: [Columbia Historical Society], 1969.
• John F. Kensett Papers, Register: Paintings sold 1848-1861; 1865-1866; 1868-1872, The Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Microfilm reel N68-85.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.