Passing Shower on a Spring Afternoon

After an initial career as an architect in New York, Cropsey turned to painting, and in 1843 exhibited work for the first time at the National Academy of Design. Following the model of many of his fellow Hudson River School colleagues, Cropsey studied in Europe and, upon his return, embarked on a long and successful career as a landscape painter.

An admirer of both Thomas Cole and Frederick Kensett, the artist brought to his panoramic views a sophisticated precision in rendering nature. This mountain landscape predates Cropsey’s trip to Europe and is an excellent example of his early style, which simultaneously blends the suggestion of vastness and detail, impressing the viewer with both the grandeur and complexity of nature.

The artist was a master at capturing the drama of changeable weather conditions such as passing storms and shifting light in sun-drenched scenes. Charles Lanman describes this work in his article, “Our Landscape Painters” (1850), in the following way: “The prominent object on the canvass [sic] is a lofty mountain which slopes gradually to the waters of a peaceful lake, while its summit is enveloped in a heavy cloud…The leaves on the trees seem to be heavily laden with new-fallen rain, and it is evident that a walk across the lawn would dampen one’s feet, for every spear of grass is also bending under the weight of a liquid pearl.”