View of Niagara Falls
John Frederick Kensett, c. 1851
Mist and daylight on the gorge. Niagara without the postcard soft focus.
About this work
View of Niagara Falls is a small oil painted around 1851–52 by John Frederick Kensett, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Rather than the classic head-on view from the brink, Kensett stands low in the gorge below the falls: the river runs toward us over broken rocks, wooded cliffs rise on the right, and the falls appear in the distance through a haze of spray. Kensett, born in Cheshire, Connecticut, in 1816, began as an engraver, including banknote engraving in New York, before travelling to Europe in 1840 with Asher Durand and John William Casilear to study painting. He became a leading figure of the second generation of the Hudson River School, known for clear light and calm surfaces that are associated with Luminism, and he was a founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Niagara Falls, on the border between Ontario and New York, has the highest flow rate of any waterfall in North America. The canvas measures 14 1/8 by 20 3/16 inches; it belonged to John Moreland Henderson by 1925 and was given to the museum in his memory.
Sources: Cleveland Museum of Art: View of Niagara Falls · Wikipedia: John Frederick Kensett · Wikipedia: Niagara Falls
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 4,251 × 2,970 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 28 × 19 in
- Sizes
- Small (20 × 14 in) · $100 · 212 ppi
Medium (24 × 17 in) · $150 · 175 ppi
Large (36 × 25 in) · $300 · 118 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of View of Niagara Falls?
Here. View of Niagara Falls is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (20 × 14 in) for $100, Medium (24 × 17 in) for $150 and Large (36 × 25 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for View of Niagara Falls?
The file is 4,251 × 2,970 px. Medium (24 × 17 in) is the largest size that prints at 150 ppi or more (175 ppi), the sharpest choice for close viewing; Large (36 × 25 in) prints at 118 ppi, fine from a few feet away but softer up close.
Is it legal to print View of Niagara Falls?
Yes. View of Niagara Falls is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
