Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011398Lake Memphremagog
by Harry Fenn
About the Artwork
This watercolor reveals the technical virtuosity of Harry Fenn, an illustrator famed for his rich handling of detail and his bizarre sense of fantasy. As a young man, Fenn sketched widely in the United States for a lavish two-volume set titled Picturesque America. After 1881, he devoted himself to watercolor painting and illustrating. This watercolor represents Lake Memphremagog, which extends across the border of America and Canada, from North Vermont into South Quebec.
Inscriptions
signed, lower left, in black ink: [artist monogram] ... Memphremagog ; VERSO OF SECONDARY SUPPORT, lower left, in graphite: WCA - 3518 ; [see departmental card for record of old inscriptions]
Provenance
before 1972: with Knoedler Galleries, New York 1972: with Jules Brassner, New York 1972-1976: Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Shaker Heights, OH 1976-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977). American Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 12, 1998). Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 15-November 14, 2004).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Harry Fenn (American, 1838/45–1911)
- Date
- c. 1880s
- Medium
- watercolor and gouache over graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 34.3 x 47.4 cm (13 1/2 x 18 11/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
- Accession no.
- 1976.115
More by Harry Fenn in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00011398
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