The Lackawanna Valley

Provenance

Commissioned c. 1856 by the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, Scranton, Pennsylvania.[1] The artist, from 1891; by inheritance 1894 to his daughter, Mrs. Jonathan Scott Hartley, New York; (her sale, American Art Association, New York, 24 March 1927, no. 76, as _The First Roundhouse of the D. L. and W. R. R. at Scranton_); (Henry Schultheis Co., New York); (sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 24 February 1938, no. 54, as _The First Roundhouse of the D.L. & W. Railroad, Scranton, Pennsylvania_); (Henry Schultheis Co., New York);[2] sold 24 May 1944 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); purchased February 1945 by Millicent Rogers [Mrs. Huttleson Rogers, 1902-1953], Washington, D.C.;[3] gift 1945 to NGA.[4] [1] Commissioned of Inness at about this time and later sold by the railroad at an unknown date. [2] The information that Henry Schultheis was both consignor and purchaser at the 1938 sale was kindly provided by Grete Meilman, of Sotheby Parke Bernet's American painting department, in her letter of 11 July 1980 to Franklin Kelly (in NGA curatorial files). The dealer's name was spelled incorrectly as Schulteis in the NGA systematic catalogue published in 1996. [3] The dates of purchase by Knoedler and Mrs. Rogers were kindly provided by Melissa De Medeiros, Knoedler Librarian, in her letter of 6 January 1993 to Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr. (in NGA curatorial files). The Knoedler purchase date was incorrectly published as 14 May in the 1996 NGA systematic catalogue. [4] According to the 21 May 1945 minutes of the NGA Board of Trustees, Millicent Rogers, living in Washington at the time, offered to purchase the painting for the NGA. It was then owned by M. Knoedler & Co., New York.

The Lackawanna Valley

Inness, George

c. 1856

Accession Number

1945.4.1

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 86 x 127.5 cm (33 7/8 x 50 3/16 in.) | framed: 120.3 x 161.6 x 15.2 cm (47 3/8 x 63 5/8 x 6 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Huttleston Rogers