Gustave Wolff

3 Chase, who had spent the early 1870’s active in the St. Louis art scene, and who was considered one of the most important artists and teachers in New York by the turn of the century, Wolff’s scenes of urban leisure are populated by New York’s fashionable elite. Approaching the Wheelock Mansion, West 160th Street, New York depicts well dressed New Yorkers walking along a path that cuts neatly through a field, the lushness of which is enhanced by Wolff’s loose and rapid application of vibrant tones of green. Wheelock Mansion was built in the 1860’s in Audubon Park byWilliamA. Wheelock and remained an important monument to Victorian style architecture amid the rapidly changing city until its demolition in 1939. Wolff’s meditation on this fleeting moment of urban life and the anonymity of the figures on the path can easily be compared to the Ashcan art- ists’ illustration of interactions between strangers in New York’s public spaces. 7 In contrast to his scenes of leisure, Wolff also produced paintings of New York’s commercial activity. Typical of the Impressionist mode, A Winter Day, 79th Street Boat Basin, New York [ fig . 3] displays Wolff’s mas- tery of color and light effects in the lavender and orange clouds juxtaposed against the crisp blue sky, and the rippled shadows of the boats on the water. Wolff’s confidence and control is revealed in the sweeping brush- strokes of the water and the rough texture of the sky, demonstrating the influence of artists like Chase and John Singer Sargent. His grittier scenes reveal the industrial activity along the shores of New York. In Harlem River Factories, New York [ fig . 4], Wolff balances the flourish of Impressionist brushstrokes in the bright white clouds with the browns and grays of the murky water. The artist has noticeably omitted any figures from this image, instead focusing on the stark beauty of this commercial waterfront. 8 A decade after his arrival in New York, Wolff continued to exhibit his river and harbor scenes to favorable reception from the press. 9 5. A Quiet Field Oil on canvas , 12 x 16 in. , Estate stamp verso, Hawthorne Fine Art, LLC, NY 6. Portrait of the Artist’s Wife Oil on canvasboard, 19 x 25 in., Signed and dated 1905, lower right, Collection of artist’s granddaughter-in-law 7. Close of Day, Harlem Tenements Oil on canvas, 12 x 16 in., Signed lower right, Hawthorne Fine Art, LLC, NY 8. Through the Clouds Oil on canvas, 20 x 26 in., Signed lower right, Private Collection