1823 -1900 · Staten Island, London and Hastings-on-Hudson

Red foliage, luminous valleys and American horizons make Jasper Francis Cropsey a master of autumn at the Hudson River School.

Jasper Francis Cropsey was born on Staten Island in 1823. First trained in architecture, he learned to organize space by plans, vanishing lines and constructed masses before devoting himself fully to painting. His first landscapes included him in the Hudson River School, a circle of artists which gave American nature an aesthetic, historical and national significance. Between 1847 and 1849, Cropsey traveled to England, France and Italy. He studied European masters without abandoning the motifs of the Hudson Valley. A second stay in London, from 1856 to 1863, allowed him to exhibit his great American landscapes in front of a British audience familiar with Constable and Turner. Autumn - On the Hudson River, painted in 1860, becomes one of his emblematic works. The panoramic view combines flamboyant foliage, river, mountains, animals and human presence in a composition that celebrates the extent of the territory. Cropsey takes the observation of seasonal colors very far: he collects leaves, compares their tones and constructs transitions from green to yellow, orange and red. Indian summer and autumn at Mount Chocorua take up this golden light, but with different rhythms, sometimes peaceful, sometimes more majestic. The Autumn Landscape, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Orange County, New York shows how a recognizable site becomes one meditation on the season and distance. Returning to the United States, Cropsey also continued his activity as an architect. His house-workshop Ever Rest, in Hastings-on-Hudson, retains the link between design, observation and painting which spans his entire career. Died in 1900, he remains one of the most famous performers of the American fall. Died in 1900, he remains one of the most famous performers of the American fall. The "Jasper Francis Cropsey" selection notably compares Autumn - On the Hudson River and Indian Summer.

Cropsey paints autumn as an architecture of light: each red supports a plan, each valley opens a distance and each season becomes an image of the territory.