Offering of the Day: "Coming to the Point" William Sydney Mount (1807-1868)

William Sidney Mount (1807-1868)
"Coming to the Point"
Lithograph with original hand color
Framed: 40 1/2 x 38 1/2 inches ; Paper: 26 1/8 x 23 7/8 inches
Lithograph by Soulanor Trissier, Published by W. Schaus/Goupil & Co.
 New York, 1855

In the mid-19th century, painting was at a peak of popularity in the United States as American artists looked for styles and subject matters by which they might distinguish a truly American esthetic, one that was distinctive and independent from European influence.  Many artists considered their creative work the province not of a cultural élite but that of the American populace at large, and a celebrated proponent of this conception, William Sidney Mount, instructed: "Paint not for the few but the many."  Mount set the tone for a major trend in American art, creating genre scenes dedicated to the recording of everyday life in small American towns.  While in the following years such subjects were to become wildly popular, Mount was one of the first major proponents of the new emphasis on American life.  Born and raised in rural Long Island, Mount enjoyed an idyllic childhood and his most acclaimed artwork recreated scenes from the small-town life he had known in his youth.  When he began his artistic training, however, Mount struggled to gain a foothold painting in the European manner, and devoting himself to historical and mythological subjects.  It was not until he returned to his home town, Stony Brook, that he immersed himself increasingly in what was familiar, rural, and his own, narrowing his life down to an exclusive love affair with one corner of the earth.  Like a number of his colleagues, he created images that held a timeless resonance for Americans, evoking a way of life that was at once familiar and idealized.  

Offered at $9,000

 

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