By Muriel Bristol | January 23, 2019
Skinner auctioneers sold two paintings by Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906) on August 13, 2017.
Shapleigh was an artist of the White Mountain School. The White Mountain School pioneered landscape painting in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. They initially traveled there by stagecoach, but did benefit from the extension of the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad into Conway and beyond.
The paintings on the auction block depicted the West Milton farm of Milton native Lewis W. Nute (1820-1888). The first, a view of the Lewis W. Nute farm, is dated 1880. It sold for $15,900.
A similar stretch of Nute road, although likely not the same houses and barns, may be seen today. (This view is from Google Maps).
The other Shapleigh painting, a view from the Lewis W. Nute farm looking towards Farmington and the New Durham ridge beyond, is undated, but one might suppose it dates from the same time. One might even suppose that the artist was a guest of Lewis W. Nute.
A similar view may be had from Nute Road today. (This vantage is from Google Maps). The artist would have been closer to the further edge of the field and there were fewer trees between him and Farmington.
References:
Skinner. (2017). Lot 93: Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906) Lewis W. Nute Farm, Milton, New Hampshire. Retrieved from www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/3022M/lots/93
Skinner. (2017). Lot 94: Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906) View from Lewis Nute Farm, Milton, New Hampshire. Retrieved from www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/3022M/lots/94
White Mountain Art & Artists. (1999-2019). Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906). Retrieved from whitemountainart.com/about-3/artists/frank-henry-shapleigh-1842-1906/
Wikipedia. (2018, December 25). White Mountain Art. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Mountain_art
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