Frederick Christian Lewis
A View of the West Branch, of the Falls of Niagara: taken from the Table Rock, looking up the River, over the Rapids

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Images(3)

Engraver Frederick Christian Lewis (English, 1779–1856)English, 1779–1856

Artistafter John Vanderlyn (American, 1775–1852)American, 1775–1852

CultureEnglish

Titles

A View of the West Branch, of the Falls of Niagara: taken from the Table Rock, looking up the River, over the Rapids

Datec. 1804

Printed inLondon, England

Place depictedNew York, United States

MediumAquatint in colors with watercolor and gouache hand coloring on wove paper, proof before lettering

DimensionsPlate: 20 3/4 × 29 7/8 in. (52.7 × 75.9 cm)
Sheet: 23 3/4 × 31 7/8 in. (60.3 × 81 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Hal Pontez, Brock Hudson, and John Cardwell in honor of William J. Hill at "One Great Night in November, 2016"

Object numberB.2016.7

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionJohn Vanderlyn of Kingston, New York, was the son of a prominent citizen there and the grandson of Pieter Vanderlyn, an early colonial American artist. The young Vanderlyn impressed New York senator and later Vice President Aaron Burr, who funded his study with Gilbert Stuart in Philadelphia and later supported his further studies at the École des Beaux-Arts under François André Vincent, making Vanderlyn the first American painter to study in Paris. He was also the first American to exhibit at the Paris Salon in 1800. When Vanderlyn returned to the United States in 1801, he decided to make a series of views of Niagara Falls as a moneymaking venture. Traveling to the falls in September of 1801, Vanderlyn made a series of sketches. From these, he painted two works that were later engraved and printed. One painting, A Distant View of the Falls of Niagara, framed the breadth and extent of the falls, while the View of the Western Branch emphasized the physical power of the rushing water and the emotional response that many felt. Thus, Vanderlyn became the first professionally trained artist to depict the falls and with his treatment of the subject in two distinct views established an approach that would influence many later artists. Thomas Jefferson was among the subscribers to the prints, receiving his pair of views in December of 1805.
Provenance[Donald A. Heald, New York, as of 2012]; purchased by MFAH, 2016.
Exhibition History"Virginia Arcadia: The Natural Bridge in American Art," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, February 6–August 1, 2021.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Recto: Signed in ink, below image, left: J. Vanderlyn pinsc t 1801
Recto: Signed in ink, below image, right: F.C. Lewis Sculpt.
Recto: Inscribed in ink, below image: CA View of the West Branch, of the Falls of Niagara; taken from the Table Rock, looking up the River over the Rapids.
Verso: [inaccessible]
Recto, lower right: J WHATMAN // 1801

Recto, inscribed by hand in brown ink over graphite, below image, left: J. Vanderlyn pinxt. 1801.
Recto, inscribed by hand in brown ink over graphite, below image, right: F. C. Lewis sculpt.
Recto, inscribed by hand in brown ink over graphite, below image, center: A View, of the West Branch, of the Falls of Niagara; taken from the Table Rock, looking up the River over the Rapids.

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