Peter Caledon Cameron
(British, 1852-1934)

"Niagara Falls in Winter", 1885

oil on canvas
signed and dated lower left.
Framed.
11-3/4" x 29-3/4", framed 21" x 38"

Provenance: Hulbert Harrington (H. H.) Warner, Rochester, New York, 1885, purchased from the artist; Sotheby's, New York, May 19, 2004, lot 64.

Literature: When the painting sold at Sotheby's in 2004, it was accompanied by a transcription of correspondence between the artist and his patron E. H. Thompson.

Notes: Peter Caledon Cameron, an eccentric perfectionist known for fastidious detail, eerie photo realist lighting, and lengthy records detailing the topographical and meteorological conditions under which he worked, has been overlooked by history. He was registered by the British government as a certified art master in South Kensington before coming to the U.S. in 1883-1884, where he obliterated all obscurity through the sensationalism of his epic painting, the "Niagara Falls in Winter" - whereby he had himself suspended by tackle over the Falls so that he might be able to make his studies in mid-air, in near zero weather. In December of 1884, Cameron's 9 by 18 foot masterpiece was unveiled and immediately purchased for an extraordinary $30,000 by Hulbert Harrington (H. H.) Warner of Rochester, New York and founder of Warner Observatory. Following the sale, the painting was widely exhibited throughout Rochester and Detroit before it was sent to Europe. In 1887, the painting came to an untimely demise and was destroyed by fire after its exposition at the Crystal Palace in London. At/or shortly after the colossal painting made its debut, this much smaller panoramic-sized painting/study of the Falls, dated 1885, was painted and also purchased by H. H. Warner. The New York Times recorded its sale on January 9, 1885, for $3,000, and Mensing and Stetcher printers produced a lithograph of it for Warner. In addition to this lot, two other paintings of "Niagara Falls in Winter" were made by Cameron: an even larger replacement copy for the one that burned in 1887 that measured 10 by 21 feet (completed in 1890), and the larger companion work to this one that sold at Sotheby's in 2016 and is inscribed "Niagara Falls in Winter/Began Feb 10th 1884/Finished Nov. 1 1884/First two months on the spot."