Jasper Francis Cropsey (American/New York, 1823-1900) , "October Morning", 1888, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left, "Thomas A. Wilmurt, New York" label on frame, 9 1/2 in. x 17 in., framed with artist and title plaque . Provenance: Estate of Houston H. and Carolyn H. Harte, San Antonio, TX. Note: Jasper Francis Cropsey initially trained as an architect under Joseph Trench, who encouraged his talents in drawing and painting. Cropsey developed a keen interest in landscape. Throughout the 1840s, he supported himself with architectural commissions, among the most notable being New York’s Sixth Avenue Elevated Railway, while continuing his artistic pursuits. In 1847, he first traveled to Europe and settled in Thomas Cole’s old studio in Rome to further his studies. In 1849, he returned to New York and arrived upstate to devote himself to the landscape work that would bring him prominence as a Hudson River School painter. Cropsey’s landscapes reflect his interest in the influence of nature on man’s existence, a concept that was fundamental to the Hudson River School artists. In 1884, Cropsey moved to a house in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York to which he added a studio. Today that site, called Ever Rest, is maintained as a museum by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation. For fifteen years, he continued to paint in his home on the Hudson. The oil landscape of 1888 offered here displays Cropsey’s mature skill with a vivid autumnal palette and finely showcases his luminist technique. Neal Auction Company would like to thank Anthony Speiser, Director of the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, for his help in authenticating this lot. The work will be included in any future supplements to the catalogue raisonné on the artist.