JOHN MIX STANLEY. (American, 1814-1872). VALLEY OF THE MIMBRES, Oil on board. Inscribed on reverse: Valley of the Mimbres to face the journal of Oct. 17, 1846, 4 o'clock pm
. - 9 7/8 in. x 12 1/2 in. Estimate $60,000-80,000
PROVENANCE: Estate of David Alvey Reed
EXHIBITED: Frederick County Historical Society, Frederick MD.
NOTE: In 1846 John Mix Stanley undertook his second journey west in pursuit of Indian subjects to paint for his touring Indian Portrait Gallery, which he later sent to the Smithsonian Institution. He joined the "Army of the West", led by General Stephen W. Kearny, as a civilian draughtsman to document the expedition. His sketches were used as illustrations in the published journal of Lt. W.H. Emory in "Notes of a Military Reconnoissance (sic), from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California, including parts of the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila Rivers. By W.H. Emory, brevet major, Corps Topographical Engineers. Made in 1846-47, with the advanced guard of the "Army of the West", Washington, Wendell and Van Benthuysen, Printers, 1848. The lithographic reproduction of VALLEY OF THE MIMBRES accompanies Emory's entry for October 17th, 1846, in which he describes describes descending into the Mimbres Valley and notes that "in full view, nearly the whole of our descent, was a mountain of peculiar symetry".
Condition:
Light craquelure pattern. UV: Small well done dots of inpainting scattered throughout - larger 1/2" area at top of mountains just to left of brush at left side, 1/4" area at peak of Cook's Peak, new frame.
