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THOMAS CHAMBERS (1808-1869)

Creator: Thomas Chambers
Offered by: Jeffrey Tillou Antiques

Description
American, New York/Massachusetts, ca. 1843-1860
Undercliff, Near Coldspring

22” x 30”; 26 1/2” x 34 3/4” (framed)

Provenance: Privat collection, Connecticut; Fred Giampietro; Northeast Auction, late 1990’s.
Chambers’ flat modeling, high palette, and distorted shapes gave his American Scene paintings a curiously modern look that positioned him perfectly to skyrocket to popularity as the first modern in the postmodern age, when his work was discovered in the 1940s; a point at which classic Hudson River landscapes were being eschewed for pieces with more abstract, surrealistic, or expressionistic elements.
The earliest Chambers works to be discovered were views of Undercliff, which when exhibited were praised by critics as ”primitive” and executed with ”control of what may well ve an American idiom, a healthy and happy combination of an inborn and developed sense of design with a true love of native landscapes.” Primitive was at the time considered the highest form of praise; indicating sincerity, authenticity, and free of stale conventions and lies.

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Origin:	United States
Period:	19th Century
Materials:	Oil, Canvas.
Condition:	Excellent, virtually untouched. In a period gilt frame.
Creation Date:	1843 - 1860
Styles / Movements:	Traditional
Incollect Reference #:	340459

Dimensions

W.	30 in;	H.	22 in;
W.	76.2 cm;	H.	55.88 cm;

Message from Seller:

Jeffrey Tillou Antiques was established in 1992. The three story historic building located “on the green” in Litchfield, features an extensive inventory of Americana from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Here you will find an extraordinary collection of furniture, folk art, weathervanes, sculpture, Oriental carpets, and related decorative pieces as well as distinctive European furniture and original works of art.

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