Jervis McEntee
Encyclopedia
Jervis McEntee was an American painter
of the Hudson River School
. He is a somewhat lesser-known figure of the 19th century American art world, but was the close friend and traveling companion of several of the important Hudson River School artists. Aside from his paintings, McEntee's detailed journals are an enduring legacy.
on July 14, 1828. Little is known of his childhood. He exhibited his first painting at the National Academy of Design
in New York City in 1850. The following year he apprenticed with Frederic Edwin Church
, who was then regarded as a rising star in the American art world. Church and McEntee remained lifelong friends, though McEntee never approached Church's fame and fortune. After studying with Church, McEntee engaged in business in Rondout. This he relinquished after three years, and, opening a studio in New York, devoted himself thenceforth wholly to art.
The landscape
s of Jervis McEntee are known for their melancholy and poetic mood. The sky is often cloudy in a McEntee landscape
, the season autumn. While Jasper Francis Cropsey
and other artists typically painted bright fall foliage, McEntee often captured the season near its end, with the leaves faded and falling from the trees. "Some people call my landscape
s gloomy and disagreeable," McEntee wrote in his journal, "They say I paint the sorrowful side of nature . . . But this is a mistake . . . Nature is not sad to me but quiet, pensive, restful."
McEntee was a particularly close friend of Hudson River School artists Sanford Robinson Gifford
and Worthington Whittredge
as well as figurative painter Eastman Johnson
. He was made an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1860, and a full academician in 1861. In 1869 he visited Europe, painting much in Italy. He died on January 27, 1891 of Bright's disease
and is buried in Montrepose Cemetery
in Kingston, New York
.
McEntee's journals are now kept by the Archives of American Art
, a research center within the Smithsonian Institution
. Five volumes of these diaries, from 1872 to 1890, have been digitally scanned, transcribed, and can be browsed in their entirety in the Jervis McEntee Diaries Online.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
of the Hudson River School
Hudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
. He is a somewhat lesser-known figure of the 19th century American art world, but was the close friend and traveling companion of several of the important Hudson River School artists. Aside from his paintings, McEntee's detailed journals are an enduring legacy.
Biography
McEntee was born in Rondout, New YorkRondout, New York
Rondout was a village located on the north side of Rondout Creek near its mouth on the Hudson River in Ulster County and includes the Rondout-West Strand Historic District....
on July 14, 1828. Little is known of his childhood. He exhibited his first painting at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
in New York City in 1850. The following year he apprenticed with Frederic Edwin Church
Frederic Edwin Church
Frederic Edwin Church was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters...
, who was then regarded as a rising star in the American art world. Church and McEntee remained lifelong friends, though McEntee never approached Church's fame and fortune. After studying with Church, McEntee engaged in business in Rondout. This he relinquished after three years, and, opening a studio in New York, devoted himself thenceforth wholly to art.
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
s of Jervis McEntee are known for their melancholy and poetic mood. The sky is often cloudy in a McEntee landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
, the season autumn. While Jasper Francis Cropsey
Jasper Francis Cropsey
Jasper Francis Cropsey was an important American landscape artist of the Hudson River School.-Biography:Cropsey was born on his father Jacob Rezeau Cropsey's farm in Rossville on Staten Island, New York, the oldest of eight children. As a young boy, Cropsey had recurring periods of poor health....
and other artists typically painted bright fall foliage, McEntee often captured the season near its end, with the leaves faded and falling from the trees. "Some people call my landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
s gloomy and disagreeable," McEntee wrote in his journal, "They say I paint the sorrowful side of nature . . . But this is a mistake . . . Nature is not sad to me but quiet, pensive, restful."
McEntee was a particularly close friend of Hudson River School artists Sanford Robinson Gifford
Sanford Robinson Gifford
Sanford Robinson Gifford was an American landscape painter and one of the leading members of the Hudson River School...
and Worthington Whittredge
Worthington Whittredge
Thomas Worthington Whittredge was an American artist of the Hudson River School. Whittredge was a highly regarded artist of his time, and was friends with several leading Hudson River School artists including Albert Bierstadt and Sanford Robinson Gifford...
as well as figurative painter Eastman Johnson
Eastman Johnson
Eastman Johnson was an American painter, and Co-Founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, with his name inscribed at its entrance...
. He was made an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1860, and a full academician in 1861. In 1869 he visited Europe, painting much in Italy. He died on January 27, 1891 of Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
and is buried in Montrepose Cemetery
Montrepose Cemetery
-Burials:*Jervis McEntee , American painter*Thomas Cornell , American politician and businessman*Arthur Sherwood Flemming , United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare...
in Kingston, New York
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
.
Journals
Aside from his paintings, McEntee's enduring legacy are the detailed journals he kept from the early 1870s until his death. In his writings McEntee records a detailed account of Hudson River School artists, their day-to-day life, gossip and personal reflections, and the overall arc of the American art world in the second half of the 19th century. He discusses his artistic successes and trials, particularly as money becomes more scarce with the decline in popularity of Hudson River School art.McEntee's journals are now kept by the Archives of American Art
Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 16 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washington, D.C...
, a research center within the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. Five volumes of these diaries, from 1872 to 1890, have been digitally scanned, transcribed, and can be browsed in their entirety in the Jervis McEntee Diaries Online.
Selected works
- The Melancholy Days have come (1860)
- Indian Summer (1861)
- Late Autumn (1863)
- October Snow (1870)
- Sea from Shore (1873)
- Cape Ann (1874)
- A Song of Summer (1876)
- Winter in the Mountains (1878)
- Clouds (1879)
- The Edge of a Wood (1880)
- Kaatskill River (1881)
- Autumn Memory (1883)
- Shadows of Autumn (1884)
- The Kaatskills in Winter (1884)
- Christmas Eve (1885)
- Shadows of Autumn (1886)
External links
- Biography on White Mountain Art & Artists
- Artcyclopedia entry for McEntee
- Jervis McEntee's personal journals at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
- Jervis McEntee Papers at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
- Google images: paintings and portrait photos