West Milford — The West Milford Heritage Committee will host a presentation on Jasper Francis Cropsey at the West Milford Museum on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. given by guest speaker Anthony Speiser, director of the Newington-Cropsey Foundation.
Cropsey, a renowned 19th century Hudson River School artist, was born in 1823 on Staten Island, N.Y. and is often referred to as the “Painter of Autumn” for the numerous fall scenes that were depicted in his paintings.
He was inspired by the landscapes that he encountered on his excursions to West Milford and particularly Greenwood Lake which proved to be one of his favorite subjects.
As a young man, he met and married Maria Cooley from West Milford and spent years traveling and producing magnificent landscape paintings that furthered his prominence.
His estate in Warwick, N.Y. ,referred to as Aladdin, was built on the mountain overlooking Warwick Valley. He and his family later moved to a house in Hastings-on-Hudson called Ever Rest where Cropsey lived until his death in 1900.
In 2006, the Newington-Cropsey Foundation presented the West Milford Museum with nine framed prints of Greenwood Lake that were reproduced from the foundation’s collection of original oil paintings. These prints and several other Cropsey works of art are on permanent display at the museum.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
The West Milford Museum is located at 1477 Union Valley Road in West Milford. The museum is ADA accessible.
Reservations are required so adequate seating will be available. To reserve a seat for this special event, email Museum@WestMilford.org or call 973-728-1823 or 973-728-2798 with your name and the number attending.
For more information visit: www.westmilfordmuseum.org.