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Lot 272D

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SMITH, John Rubens. [A View of Fairmount and the

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Philadelphia: c. 1837. Watercolor, pencil and gouache on paper, mounted on linen (380 x 560 mm). On paper watermarked "J. Whatman / Turkey Mill / 1827." Framed. Condition: several expertly repaired tears with over-coloring, slightly toned overall. Provenance: Eugene Sussel; The Schwarz Gallery (label). This masterful original watercolor of the Fairmount Waterworks was used as the basis for a similar lithographed view [see the following lot]. The watercolor is artfully conceived depicting the Waterworks at an angle from the veranda of Harding's Hotel, with the roof and columns framing the view. In the foreground, seven gentlemen and ladies survey the scene of the flowing water and the lively pedestrian and horse-drawn carriage traffic coming over the Upper Ferry Bridge. That bridge was destroyed by fire in 1838, suggesting the earlier dating of this watercolor. Following the destruction of the bridge, J. T. Bowen issued a lithographed version of this watercolor (featured as the frontispiece to Wainwright's Philadelphia in the Romantic Age of Lithography). The differences between the watercolor and print include varying figures on the veranda and bridge, the lack of the stationary carriage in front of the hotel, and other minor details. The artist of the view, the London born and Royal Academy trained John Rubens Smith (1775-1849), came to America in 1809. He worked in Boston and New York before moving to Philadelphia in the 1830s, where he remained only for a short time. Original works by Smith from the time of his brief residence in Philadelphia seldom come to market, let alone so famous a view.

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