Object number1864.2.2752
Seated Woman, Abruzzi
Date1847
Artist
Jasper Francis Cropsey
(American, 1823-1900)
CultureAmerican
MediumPencil and watercolor on paper
DimensionsSheet: 11 3/8 x 8 13/16 in. (28.89 x 22.38 cm)
Credit LineGift of Matthew Vassar
On View
Not on viewPeriod19th c
Classification(s)
SignedOn recto, signed lower left in pencil: J. F. Cropsey
InscribedOn recto, lower left in pencil: [signature] / Nov. 20th 1847~; on recto, lower right in pencil: Abruzzi
ProvenanceCollections: Elias MagoonLabel TextJasper Francis Cropsey was a prominent American landscape painter in the nineteenth century. Since most of his paintings featured natural vistas that minimized human presence (such as the nearby Morning on the Coast of Sicily), sketches like Seated Woman, Abruzzi offer a glimpse into a lesser-known part of his practice. He drafted this figure study during his voyage to Italy between 1847 and 1849. For Cropsey, and many of his American peers, Italy—particularly Rome—represented an enchanted Cropsey filled with ruins and remnants of bygone eras. While staying in Rome and its environs, Kensett joined a thriving community of American artists and intellectuals who had established residences and studios in the “Eternal City.” In addition to sketching the Italian countryside, Cropsey used this time to create studies of models dressed in traditional Italian costumes. Seated Woman, Abruzzi, for example, took inspiration from garments of Abruzzo, a region to the west of Rome.
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