Nicolino Calyo
View of the Great Fire in New York, 1835

View of the Great Fire in New York, 1835

Public Domain

View of the Great Fire in New York, 1835
ArtistAmerican, born Italy, 1799–1884
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • View of the Great Fire in New York, 1835
Date1837
Place depictedNew York , New York, United States
MediumGouache on wove paper
DimensionsImage: 10 7/8 × 16 in. (27.6 × 40.6 cm)
Sheet: 11 1/2 × 16 3/4 in. (29.2 × 42.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by C. Berdon Lawrence, Mark Lawrence, Charles B. Lawrence, Jr., and David Mitchell in honor of Rolanette Lawrence on the occasion of her birthday at "One Great Night in November, 2012"
Object numberB.2013.3
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Chillman Parlor
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Description

Born into an aristocratic family, Nicolino Calyo fled his home in Naples, Italy, in the 1830s during the political and social uprisings of the unification movement. In the United States, he found a welcome audience for his sophisticated, academically trained style. His degree of skill and polish had rarely been known on this side of the Atlantic, and Calyo was quick to capitalize on it. New York lent itself perfectly to Calyo’s stock-in-trade: close observation of people and places, meticulously rendered in the precise topographical tradition of his fellow countrymen Canaletto and Francesco Guardi.

These two dramatic, contrasting views by Nicolino Calyo of the Great Fire in New York in 1835 and its aftermath depict one of the most cataclysmic events in the history of the city (see B.2013.4). Seventeen blocks on the southeast tip of Manhattan were destroyed. Calyo’s series of paintings was popularized through aquatints by William James Bennett that brought the artist considerable acclaim.


Provenance[Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2013.
Exhibition HistoryKennedy Galleries, New York. "The Kennedy Quarterly: Early American Views 1700–1880" (1963), nos.311 and 312.

Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland, and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1967, "American Paintings and Historical Prints from the Middendorf Collection," nos. 17a and 17b.

Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1969, "The American Scene," nos. 7a and 7b.

Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1991, "Neo-Classicism in America: Inspiration and Innovation," 1810–1840, nos. 33a and 33b.

Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 2011–12, "The World of Duncan Phyfe: The Arts of New York," 1800-1847, nos. 97B and 97C.

"Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 24–September 9, 2012.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in black gouache at lower edge left: "N. Calyo, N. York 1937."
Verso lower edge right, brown ink: "View of the Great Fire in New York Dec 16th & 17th, 1835 // as seen from the top of the new building // of the Bank of America corner of the Wall & William // St."
Verso bottom left, in graphite: "D1069 // A77625 (crossed out) // UXX PR"
Verso lower center, watermark: "Whatman Turkey Mill"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

View of the Ruins after the Great Fire in New York, 1835
Nicolino Calyo
1837
Gouache on wove paper
B.2013.4
The Commencement of the Action between H.M.S. Avon and the U.S.S. Wasp
John Christian Schetky
after 1812
Ink and gouache over graphite on wove paper
B.62.1.2
Young Man in front of a Great Oak
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
c. 1840
Graphite heightened with white gouache on buff wove paper
97.209
Study for the Fireplace Mural at the Nelson Rockefeller Mansion, 810 Avenue, New York
Fernand Léger
1938
Gouache and graphite on wove paper, laid on cardboard
2020.156
Untitled
Richard Diebenkorn
1972
A: Acrylic and gouache on wove paper, B: Wash with cut and pasted paper on wove paper, C: Acrylic, charcoal and cut and pasted on wove paper
94.109.A-.C
The United States Sloop of War Wasp Sinking H.M.S. Reindeer and Putting Part of Her Crew on Board a Portugeuse Bay
John Christian Schetky
after 1812
Ink and gouache over graphite on paper
B.62.1.4
View of Houston
J. Kick
c. 1846
Watercolor on wove rag paper with gelatin highlights on secondary support of wove paper
B.74.22
On the River Machwy, Wales
Samuel Palmer
1837
Watercolor and gouache over black chalk on wove paper, heightened with white chalk on wove paper
2017.15
Longshoreman Mural Sketch
John Biggers
1956–1957
Conté crayon with gouache on wove paper laid down on paper board
94.724
Marjamshausen
Paul Klee
1928
Watercolor and gouache over graphite on wove paper, on artist's paper board mount with pen and ink
39.111
The Land
Katrina Moorhead
2010
Graphite and gouache on wove paper with torn-and-pasted inkjet print on Gampi paper
2012.287
Overall recto.
Thomas Shotter Boys
c. 1850
Watercolor over graphite, heightened with gouache and gum glaze, on cream wove paper
2023.500