98

The Mississippi River landscape so appealed to Captain Seth Eastman (stationed at Fort Snelling) that between 1846 and 1848 he painted dozens of excellent miniature landscapes of the river from the Falls of St. Anthony in Minnesota to a point below St. Louis near the mouth of the Ohio. Only recently discovered in a private collection, the delicate watercolors establish Eastman as an important landscape painter and the best watercolorist of the Upper Mississippi.

Of their quality, McDermott writes, “So small that they might have been painted with the aid of a jeweler’s glass, so sharply distinct that the artist might have been viewing scenes through a telescope, so sensitive in the use of atmosphere, so delicate in their tints, these pictures are a glowing triumph for Eastman.”

LITERATURE
John Francis McDermott, Seth Eastman’s Mississippi: A Lost Portfolio Recovered (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1973), nos. 46 and 77, illustrated

Condition ReportSixty Miles above Prairie du Chien: As viewed through glass. Paper appears to be in good condition, with slight yellowing. Colors are slightly faded.

Near the Mouth of the Ohio: As viewed through glass. Paper appears to be in good condition, with slight yellowing in sky. Colors are slightly faded.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.