John F. Kensett (1818-1872)
Shore of Darien, Connecticut (Long Island Sound from Fish Island), 1872
Oil on canvas, 12 x 20”
Signed lower right

In 1867, Kensett, a Connecticut native and well-known Hudson River School painter, bought land on Contentment Island near Darien. The realism of his early work had already given way to a greater emphasis on the effects of light. Now Kensett developed an aesthetic that blended accurate observation with spare compositions, low-key colors, and nuances of atmosphere and light.

He painted this scene (and himself doing so) on Fish Island near Contentment. Dazed by the Civil War and the nation’s rampant industrialization, Americans were looking to nature for solace. Kensett’s art had a spiritual serenity that they appreciated.