The Spirit of War
Jasper Francis Cropsey1851
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
In _The Spirit of War_, a rugged mountain landscape provides the backdrop for a medieval wartime scene, all bathed in an eerie, fiery light: knights on horseback ride into battle, a distant settlement burns, and a mother and child cower on the ground. A medieval castle rises from the jagged rocks, its looming tower framed by gathering storm clouds that portend destruction. The artist himself described the fraught scene as "promising naught but the uncertain and gloomy future of warlike times." By contrast, its companion piece _The Spirit of Peace_ (Philadelphia, Woodmere Art Museum), shows an Arcadian landscape with tiny figures engaged in various pastoral pursuits. The center of the composition is anchored by a circular temple containing symbols of peace. Clear skies, the soft light of sunset, and placid waters convey tranquility and prosperity. Praised for their narrative clarity and displaying Cropsey's fondness for detailed nature studies, the allegorical pair went on to become the most exhibited of his works.
The paintings' twinned themes of war and peace expressed as historical allegories would have had an immediate emotional significance for Cropsey's audience. The recent Mexican War (1846-1848) and the subsequent debate over whether the western territories would join the nation as free or slave states contributed to the strained national atmosphere in the decade preceding the Civil War. First shown as his New York studio, this allegorical pair were shown seven times between 1852 and 1857. In this carefully constructed tour de force the earnest young artist created a powerful and lasting image of the fear and hopelessness brought about by war, eerily foreshadowing the bloody conflict that would envelop his country in the following decade.
More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication_ American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part _I, pages 110-114, which is available as a free PDF at <u>https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-19th-century-part-1.pdf</u>
- Title: The Spirit of War
- Creator: Jasper Francis Cropsey
- Date Created: 1851
- Physical Dimensions: overall: 110.8 x 171.6 cm (43 5/8 x 67 9/16 in.) framed: 151.8 x 211.5 x 17.2 cm (59 3/4 x 83 1/4 x 6 3/4 in.)
- Provenance: Sale of Cropsey's work, New York, April 1856;[1] John Rutherford, New Jersey;[2] sold by May 1856 to Joseph Harrison, Jr. [1810-1874], Philadelphia; by inheritance to his wife, Sarah Poulterer Harrison [1817-1906], Philadelphia; her estate; (her estate sale, M. Thomas & Sons at Philadelphia Art Galleries, 12 March 1912 [postponed from 26 February], no. 8); Thomas E. Kinsey, Philadelphia.[3] Joseph T. Kinsley, Philadelphia, by April 1915; (sale, Hiram Parke New Galleries, New York, 15-16 March 1916, 2nd day, no. 175);[4] (J.G. Leroy, agent). (sale, Philadelphia Art Galleries, 7 February 1917, no. 1485).[5] (sale, Philadelphia Art Galleries, 29 May 1917, no. 767).[6] Sarah Clark Goodman, New York and Newport; (her sale, Plaza Art Rooms, Inc., New York, 13-15 November 1919, 3rd day, no. 499);[7] Herbert Kaufman. Adele Gardiner, Tarrytown, New York, 1929;[8] private collection, from 1929; acquired 1977 by (Vose Galleries, Boston); purchased 23 February 1978 by NGA. [1] "Cropsey sale," _Statten Islander_, 12 April 1856. [2] This was not the first painting by Cropsey to be purchased by Rutherford. Tuckerman, Book 1867, 535 lists a _Jedburgh Abbey_, painted by Cropsey in Rome, in the collection of "John Rutherford, Esq., of New Jersey." [3] An annotated copy of the 1912 sale catalogue gives the name of the buyer of the Cropsey as Thomas E. Kingsley, as does a 13 March 1912 newspaper article from _The North American_ inserted inside the cover of this copy of the catalogue. A search of Philadelphia city directories and the 1910 U.S. census for Philadelphia finds no Thomas Kingsley, but instead Thomas E. Kinsey, a superintendent with the Pullman Company. The same article indicates that he purchased "for his private collection" three paintings at the sale. Two of these paintings are indeed annotated in the sale catalogue with his name; however, the third is annotated with the name of Joseph T. Kinsley (see note 4). [4] There was a 1915 sale in Philadelphia (14-16 April) of over 200 paintings in Joseph T. Kinsley's collection. _The Spirit of War_ was no. 66 in this sale, but apparently it did not sell. The 1916 sale catalogue is titled _Illustrated Catalogue of Valuable Paintings by Foreign and American Artists Belonging to Mr. Joseph T. Kinsley, Philadelphia...and Mr. William Hogencamp...Jersey City, N.J._. According to Philadelphia city directories from 1911 to 1916, Joseph T. Kinsley was the president and general manager of the Pennsylvania Taximeter & Cab Co. and the Bellevue-Stratford Garage, as well as a plumber, his occupation as given in the 1910 census for Philadelphia. The 1916 sale included over 100 paintings from his collection. [5] Dr. Kenneth W. Maddox found the painting listed in this sale, which included objects from the estates of Charles I. Craigen of Philadelphia and Palm Beach, and Mrs. Louisa S. Clarke of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The catalogue does not identify the owner of individual lots. [6] The reference to this sale in the 1917 _American Art Annual_ describes it as "107 water colors and paintings belonging to the estates of Harriet W. Norriss, G. Hudson Mackuen, and several other estates." A copy of the catalogue has not yet been located. [7] The 1919 sale was "The Sarah Clark Goodman Sale." This is the only documentation thus far of her ownership. _The New York Times_ obituary notice of 13 April 1919 identifies Mrs. Goodman as the wife of the Rev. Frederic W. Goodman and "the inventor of the 'vibratone piano'." [8] A letter of 26 February 1981 from Robert C. Vose, Jr. (in NGA curatorial files), states: "Apparently, this Gardiner also built a house in the Adirondacks, which was eventually purchased by the man from whom we got the Cropsey. He still wishes to be anonymous. Our source found the painting face to the wall in the barn."
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: oil on canvas
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