About the Artwork
Quidor was especially fond of painting literary subjects, particularly those from American writers. In this canvas he has adapted an aspect of Diedrich Knickerbocker's (Washington Irving) satirical book History of New York. The fictional narrative tells the story of how early Dutch colonists lived on the coast of New Jersey in the village of Communipaw. Their happy life was disrupted by a nearly disastrous encounter with the British. In the scene depicted, Olaffe Van Kortlandt picks up a conch shell and blows it, signaling the colonists to follow him to the boats in search of a new place to live. After some harrowing experiences on the high seas, the group of explorers led by Van Kortlandt sent for their families and belongings and settled on Manhattan Island.
Embarkation from Communipaw
1861
John Quidor
1801-1881
American
Unknown
Oil on canvas
Unframed: 27 × 34 1/4 inches (68.6 × 87 cm) Framed: 35 × 43 × 4 5/8 inches (88.9 × 109.2 × 11.7 cm)
Paintings
American Art before 1950
Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund
62.176
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Markings
Signed and dated, on verso: John Quidor, painter | New York 1861
Inscribed, on verso: by the artist, a passage from Washington Irving's Knickerbocker History of New York Inscribed: John Quidor, painter | New York 1861
Provenance
1962, Kennedy Galleries (New York, New York, USA)
1962-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Four Centuries of American Masterpieces. Exh. cat., Gallery at the Better Living Center, New York World’s Fair. New York, 1964, no. 23 (ill.).
John Quidor. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1965, no. 17.
Detroit Institute of Arts. The Institute Collects. Detroit, 1965, p. 14.
Dunlap, William. History of the Rise and Progress of the Art of Design in the United States. 1969, no. 259 (ill.).
Price, V. Treasury of American Art. Waukesha, WI, 1972, p. 114 (ill.).
John Quidor. Exh. cat., Wichita Art Museum. Wichita, 1973, pp. 62-63, no. 12.
Antiques 114, 2 (November 1978): p. 1046 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
John Quidor, Embarkation from Communipaw, 1861, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund, 62.176.
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