John Bunyan Bristol (American, 1826-1909)Near Middlebury, Vermont
oil on canvas
18"x30" (image)
Value: $20,000
Primarily self-taught, Bristol also studied briefly with Hudson River painter Henry Ary, from whom he assimilated the Hudson River School compositional style of aerial panoramas executed with dark foregrounds, luminous middle grounds, and vanishing backgrounds. Bristol traveled throughout New England over several summers, painting its landscapes. Shown at the National Academy of Design in New York, he became an Associate Member of the National Academy and was later elected to a full membership as an Academician. He exhibited widely and internationally, at venues such as the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia (1876), Paris Exposition (1889), and Pan-American Exposition (1901). His depictions of the Middlebury area are recognizably quaint pastorals bathed in the familiar light of Vermont summer.
