Jervis McEntee (July 14, 1828 – January 27, 1891) was an American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

of the

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. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...

. 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 journals are an enduring legacy, documenting the life of a New York painter during and after the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

Biography

McEntee was born in

Rondout, New York Rondout (pronounced "ron doubt"), is situated in Ulster County, New York on the Hudson River at the mouth of Rondout Creek. Originally a maritime village, the arrival of the Delaware and Hudson Canal helped create a city that dwarfed nearby Kingsto ...

on July 14, 1828. Little is known of his childhood. From approximately 1844–1846, he attended the

Clinton Liberal Institute The Clinton Liberal Institute was a coeducational preparatory school established by the Universalist Church in the village of Clinton, in the Town of Kirkland, New York, in 1831, relocated to Fort Plain, New York in 1878, and remaining there un ...

in Clinton, New York. He exhibited his first painting as a self-taught artist at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in New York City in 1850. In the fall of that year he apprenticed with

Frederic Edwin Church Frederic Edwin Church (May 4, 1826 – April 7, 1900) was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for painting large landscapes, ...

, who was then regarded as a rising star in the American art world. After leaving Church's studio in 1851, McEntee remained his lifelong friend, though McEntee never approached Church's fame and fortune. After studying with Church, McEntee attempted a career as a businessman in Rondout, but did not experience much success. After three years he gave up business and devoted himself wholly to his art, becoming one of the charter residents of

Richard Morris Hunt Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of American architecture. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 entrance fa� ...

Tenth Street Studio Building The Tenth Street Studio Building, constructed in New York City in 1857, was the first modern facility designed solely to serve the needs of artists. It became the center of the New York art world for the remainder of the 19th century. Situated at ...

in 1857. Since many of the building's other occupants were bachelors or commuters, McEntee and his wife (who was known as a lively, sympathetic hostess) became the center of a spontaneous salon frequented by some of the best-known artists, writers, and actors of the era. After his wife died in 1878, McEntee stayed on at the building, an increasingly lonely widower, until his death in 1891. McEntee was a particularly close friend of Hudson River School artists

Sanford Robinson Gifford Sanford Robinson Gifford (July 10, 1823 – August 29, 1880) was an American landscape painter and a leading member of the second generation of Hudson River School artists. A highly-regarded practitioner of Luminism, his work was noted for its ...

Worthington Whittredge Thomas Worthington Whittredge (May 22, 1820 – February 25, 1910) 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 includin ...

, John Ferguson Weir, as well as figurative painter

Eastman Johnson Jonathan Eastman Johnson (July 29, 1824 – April 5, 1906) 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 best known for his genre paintings, paintings of ...

. 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 of

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

at his home in Rondout on January 27, 1891, and is buried in

Montrepose Cemetery Montrepose Cemetery is a burial ground in Kingston, New York, United States. It is also host to the Agudas Achim Congregation Cemetery. Burials * Maryanne Amacher (1938–2009), composer * Thomas Cornell (1814–1890), politician and businessma ...

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

Artistic style

Jervis McEntee - A Cliff in the Katskills - Google Art Project

The

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

s of Jervis McEntee are known for their melancholy and poetic mood. The sky is often cloudy in a McEntee

, the season autumn. While

Jasper Francis Cropsey Jasper Francis Cropsey (February 18, 1823 – June 22, 1900) was an important American landscape artist of the Hudson River School. Early years Cropsey was born on his father Jacob Rezeau Cropsey's farm in Rossville on Staten Island, New Yor ...

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

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."

Journals

Aside from his paintings, McEntee's enduring legacy are the detailed journals he kept from the early 1870s until his death. These diaries provide a vivid, accurate impression of the life of a typical New York painter during and after the Gilded Age. 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. The journals contain first-hand information on the inner workings of the National Academy and the Century Club, on the 1876

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

in Philadelphia, efforts to revive the

American Art-Union The American Art-Union (1839–1851) was a subscription-based organization whose goal was to enlighten and educate an American public to a national art, while providing a support system for the viewing and sales of art “executed by artists in th ...

, and on the vigorous growth of art societies and exhibitions throughout the country. The diaries also reveal the economy of art during the period, including the prices, patterns of collecting and patronage, the artists' dependence on personal contacts through clubs, social gatherings, and influential friends. Long passages describe McEntee's overwhelming anxieties over money and family difficulties; he is frequently lonely and depressed, and always worried about his status as an artist. McEntee's journals are now kept by the

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 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

, a research center within the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. Five volumes of these diaries, from 1872 to 1890, have been digitally scanned, transcribed, and can be browsed in their entirety online. In addition, the Archives holds McEntee's personal papers, which were digitized in 2007.

Selected works

*''The Doge's Palace (Venice),'' undated,

St. Johnsbury Athenaeum The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum (often written ''St. Johnsbury Athenæum'') is a combined library and art gallery, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The building in which it is housed is architecturally and historically significant because of its construction ...

*''The Melancholy Days Have Come'' (1861),

*''Indian Summer'' (ca. 1861),

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

*''Evening Landscape, Late Autumn'' (1861),

Bowdoin College Museum of Art The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is an art museum located in Brunswick, Maine. Included on the National Register of Historic Places, the museum is located in a building on the campus of Bowdoin College designed by the architectural firm McKim, Me ...

*''Mount Desert Island, Maine'' (1864), John Wilmerding Collection,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

*''October Snow'' (1870) *''The Woods of Asshockan, Catskills'' (1871), St. Johnsbury Athenaeum *''Sea from Shore'' (1873),

Mead Art Museum Mead Art Museum houses the fine art collection of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Opened in 1949, the building is named after architect William Rutherford Mead (class of 1867), of the prestigious architectural firm McKim, Mead & White ...

*''Cape Ann'' (1874) *''A Song of Summer'' (1876) *''Winter in the Mountains'' (1878) *''Clouds'' (1870), Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center *''The Edge of a Wood'' (1880) *''Kaatskill River'' (1881) *''An Autumn Memory'' (1883),

Worcester Art Museum The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among th ...

*''Shadows of Autumn'' (1884) *''The Kaatskills in Winter'' (1884) *''A Cliff in the Katskills'' (c. 1885),

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

*''Christmas Eve'' (1885) *''Shadows of Autumn'' (1886)

References

External links