Smith's Point, Beverly, Massachusetts
John Frederick Kensett
(American, 1816–1872)
1867
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions56.2 x 91.76 cm (22 1/8 x 36 1/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Maxim Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815–1865
Accession number62.277
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By the late 1860s Kensett tended to simplify the topography of the sites he painted in favor of a distilled atmosphere. Here, the scene is recognizable as Smith's Point, with Baker's Island in the distance, but Kensett shifted his viewpoint to emphasize, in the clarity of crystalline light, distance and the dominant features of the landscape.
InscriptionsLower right: JF.K.'67. [JFK in monogram]ProvenanceBy 1950, with Victor Spark, New York; 1950, sold by Victor Spark to Maxim Karolik, Newport, R.I.; 1962, gift of Maxim Karolik to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 14, 1962)
Peter Frederick Rothermel
about 1871