 Cornelius Beet is primarily known as Cornelius De Beet
|
|
Ad Code: 3
|
Oil on Canvas, 28" x 36", 1831
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
|
|
|
Biography from Charleston Renaissance Gallery:
| Born and trained in Amsterdam, Cornelius de Beet immigrated to Baltimore around 1810, the year in which his name first appeared in the city directories. Subsequent listings through 1840 identify him variously as an ornamental, landscape and fancy painter (Johnston, p. 44).
De Beet exhibited landscape and still life subjects at the Pennsylvania Academy from 1812 until 1832, and at the Peale Museum in 1822. Most of the landscapes were views of the Baltimore countryside. "View on Jones’s Falls, near Baltimore" (1812; location unknown) was one of the earliest. The subject so attracted de Beet that he painted several additional views along the modern Falls Road, including "Hollingsworth Mill on the Jones Falls" (ca. 1830; Maryland Historical Society), a site now in the shadow of the 28th Street Bridge, and "View of the Great Bend of Jones Falls" and the "Belvedere Street Bridge" (ca. 1835; Maryland Historical Society).
Like other early landscapists, de Beet preferred truthful but artistic transcriptions of real scenes over imaginary views. One of the distinguishing characteristics of his style is the feathery brushwork that he acquired as a youth in Europe. Our paintings are variant views of Hollingsworth Mill on the Jones Falls and were probably painted about the same time. Labels affixed to the verso indicate that they were once the property of M. Barrett & Bro, Carver and Gilder, No. 82 Howard St., Corner Saratoga, Baltimore.
Widely admired for its natural beauty, Jones Falls attracted several artists. Around 1800, the English immigrant Francis Guy painted views of Pennington Mills, Jones Falls Valley, Looking Upstream and Pennington Mills, Jones Falls Valley, Looking Downstream, as well as Jones Falls at Baltimore Street Bridge. A view of Jones Falls near Baltimore was included in Joshua Shaw’s Picturesque Views of American Scenery, a book designed “to exhibit correct delineations of some of the most prominent beauties of natural scenery in the United States” (Views and Visions, p. 289), published in 1820. (NRS).
References:
Johnston, Sona K. American Paintings 1750-1900: from the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1983.
Views and Visions: American Landscape before 1830. Exhibition Catalogue, Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1986.
|
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|