# Jasper Francis Cropsey artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/jasper-francis-cropsey/
Profile generated: 2026-05-08T11:08:45.165Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1823-02-18
- Death date: 1900-06-22
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Hudson River School
- Common media: oil on canvas, watercolor, drawing

## About Jasper Francis Cropsey

Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823–1900) was an American painter, architect, and illustrator who became one of the most recognized figures of the Hudson River School. Born on February 18, 1823, Cropsey began his career preparing architectural backgrounds before turning fully to landscape painting. His vivid depictions of autumn foliage in the American Northeast earned him the nickname "America's painter of autumn." After travels through England, France, and Italy in the late 1840s, he established a London studio in the 1850s where he encountered the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, whose attention to natural detail reinforced his own meticulous style. Cropsey exhibited widely at institutions including the National Academy of Design and the Royal Academy in London, and his work is held in major museum collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.

## Common works and media

Oil on canvas landscape paintings are the most commonly encountered Cropsey works in the art market, especially autumn views of the Hudson River Valley, the White Mountains, and New England forests. He also produced watercolor landscapes, architectural studies, ink and graphite drawings, and occasional architectural designs. Smaller cabinet-size oils and preparatory oil sketches appear at auction alongside his more ambitious exhibition-scale canvases. Works on paper, including travel sketches from his European trips, are less common but do surface periodically.

## Market and appraisal context

Cropsey's oil landscapes appear regularly at major American art auctions. Large-scale autumn scenes of the Hudson River Valley and New England are the most sought-after works, often achieving premium results at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams. Smaller paintings, watercolors, and drawings by Cropsey surface more frequently and trade at more modest levels. Provenance, exhibition history, condition, and whether a work can be linked to his published catalogue all influence appraised value. Collectors should note that Hudson River School compositions were sometimes replicated by the artist and emulated by contemporaries, making attribution verification an important step in any appraisal.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines verified identity research from Getty ULAN, the Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD, and museum records with auction-house context, public sale records, realized prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1451318
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_Francis_Cropsey
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500012491
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/283830/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80026719
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/65034
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/19248