The River’s Golden Dream
- Date
- 1911–12
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- depicts
- Elsah, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- On View, Library
- Dimensions
- 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
framed: 51 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 4 5/8 in. (130.8 x 105.4 x 11.7 cm) - Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 5:1913
NOTES
The Mississippi River fills the foreground, with wetlands stretching into the distance. Frederick Oakes Sylvester painted this view looking towards Missouri from the bluffs at Elsah, Illinois. A leader in the early 20th-century St. Louis art scene, Sylvester taught at Principia and Central High School.
Best known for his paintings of the Mississippi River, Sylvester also wrote poems praising the beauty of the water and its golden light. In 1911, he published a collection titled The Great River: Poems and Pictures, a copy of which is held in the Richardson Memorial Library Special Collections.
Best known for his paintings of the Mississippi River, Sylvester also wrote poems praising the beauty of the water and its golden light. In 1911, he published a collection titled The Great River: Poems and Pictures, a copy of which is held in the Richardson Memorial Library Special Collections.
Provenance
1913 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from the artist [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice dated April 28, 1913 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 4, 1913.
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from the artist [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice dated April 28, 1913 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 4, 1913.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.