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Androscoggin Valley White Mtns.
Lemuel D. Eldred (1850-1921)
Signed and dated lower right: LD.Eldred /1876.
Inscribed in pencil (in artist's hand) on stretcher: Androscoggin Valley White Mtns.
Oil on canvas, 22 x 36 inches
Private collection
In the mid 1870s, after studying and working with artist William Bradford in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and New York City, Lemuel D. Eldred moved to Boston, where he maintained a studio for the rest of the decade. The White Mountains were not generally frequented by Bradford and his circle. These artists customarily traveled eastward along the coast, with North Head at Bradford's Cove, Grand Manan (New Brunswick), a favorite destination. They became known for their maritime scenes in the emerging Luminist style. The White Mountains, however, were well established among Bostonians as a place to go for summer outings and extended sojourns. During one of his trips to the region Eldred captured the effects of light and atmospheric conditions in the Androscoggin Valley.
