Farm with Windmill, Chickens and Figures

Oil on panel, retaining a paper label from The Haseltine Art Galleries, Philadelphia.

Painting size: 10” x 16”
Frame size: 20.75” x 27”

Born in 1832 to a long established New Jersey family, Nicholson became a prolific landscape and genre painter known for his work in the style of Romantic Realism. His paintings often depicted realistic subjects in dramatic and sentimental settings. Apprenticed to a house painter at the age of 17, he began his artistic career in earnest thirteen years later in 1862. Studying both in Philadelphia and France, he was mentored by Eugène Isabey, an official court painter for Emperor Napoleon III. Under his guidance Nicholson cultivated a taste for genre painting, especially those involving the sea. His travels abroad to France, England, Holland and Italy greatly influenced his landscape painting. In fact, it may be supposed that the painting seen here is a depiction of the Dutch countryside. Eventually, Nicholson returned to the United States where he would spend the remainder of his long life painting for a variety of wealthy individuals in Philadelphia and New Jersey.

Source:

Ogden, Kate Nearpass. “The Work of George Washington Nicholson.” American Art Review. No. 4 2008.