Kauterskill Falls

The acclaimed American landscape painter Sanford Gifford was a member of the second generation of Hudson River School artists. He was known for his ability to create the effect of shimmering light that radiates in the naturalist settings he chose to render. In order to create Kauterskill Falls, Gifford, like many artists working at this time, traveled to natural settings to observe and sketch, taking his studies back to the studio for further development of more formal paintings. In this work Gifford presents a scene from the bottom of a creek allowing the viewer to behold the Catskill Mountains' three cascading waterfalls surrounded by autumnal light and golden foliage.