?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(COMMERCE & EXPANSION.) Hill, engraver; after George Catlin. To the Cadets of the West Point Military Academy. Pair of hand-colored aquatints, each about 14 x 20 inches; a few minor repairs, light mat toning and soiling. New York, 1828 and circa 1831
The artist George Catlin is best known for his American Indian portraits. Two years before he headed west to begin his life's great work, he painted and published these two matching views of West Point: one looking north across the parade ground up the Hudson River, and the other looking south. In both, the cadets can be seen drilling, with civilian spectators watching raptly. The Eleazar D. Wood monument can be seen in the foreground of the south view, and in the distant background of the north view; it was often used as a navigational landmark for ships coming down the Hudson. The southern view is the first state published by Catlin under his 15 May 1828 copyright; the north view is the second state issued after the plate was "transferred to G. & C. & H. Carvill" (they were active circa 1830-31). Stauffer 1354.
