Sonntag, William (1822-1900; American)
Scene on the Hudson (c.1864)
Oil on canvas, 91.7 x 142.9 cm
Gift of John R.Ricards, 1867
National Gallery of Victoria (p.301.5-1)
Cox quotes from a letter by Redmond Barry, describing this as “a very handsome picture,” and the donor as “an American gentleman Mr Ricardo” {sic}.
Sonntag, a lesser-known member of the Hudson River School, typically painted serene Italianate vistas like this. It may have resonated with contemporary local landscapes in the pre-Felton collection by Chevalier and von Guèrard.
Refs.
AR 1870 (long version), p.1888, Schedule XLIII (as presented 1867); NGV 1894, p.96 (IV.McArthur Gallery, no.67: as on loan to the Ballarat Gallery); NGV 1905, p.162 (Pictures on loan to country galleries)
In NGV 1894 and 1905, this work is titled Autumn, on the Hudson, North America. Barry’s remarks appear in a letter he sent to Augustus Tulk, quoted by Cox NGV (1970), p.15 (and n.28, p.423, indicating the date of the letter as 23 Feb.1865)
For the painter, see Bénézit 13, pp.25-26 (as William Louis Sonntag the Elder; listing the present work)