Washington
‘Washington Crossing the Delaware’ that hung in the White House up for auction at Christie’s in May
The well-known “Washington Crossing the Delaware” portray, which hung within the White Home from the Seventies to 2014, is arising for public sale subsequent month, when it’s estimated to fetch about $20 million.
The 1851 oil portray is considered one of three variations painted by Emanuel Leutze of the person who was to be the primary US President main troops throughout a key second of the American revolution. Solely two survived.
The primary model was destroyed throughout a World Warfare II air raid in Germany, mentioned American Artwork specialist Paige Kestenman at Christie’s New York.
“The second is the monumental work that’s the centerpiece of the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork’s American Wing, and the third is that this work proper right here,” mentioned Kestenman.
Visitors have a look at Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 portray of “Washington Crossing the Delaware” throughout an unveiling on the Minnesota Marine Artwork Museum in March 2015. Credit score: Matthew Seckora/AP
The model at New York’s Met measures 12.4 x 21.25 toes (3.78 x 6.48 meters). The portray up on the market on Could 12 is smaller — about 3 x 6 toes. It had hung for many years within the White Home, primarily within the West Wing reception room.
The work depicts George Washington main troopers throughout the Delaware River to shock the infantry hiding on the opposite aspect on Christmas Night time, 1776, Kestenman mentioned.
“A German-born American immigrant, Leutze was additionally a staunch abolitionist and in ‘Washington crossing the Delaware’ he intentionally included a wide range of the figures that make up the melting pot that fashioned the American nation,” mentioned Kestenman.
She identified a Black soldier, one other soldier carrying a Scottish bonnet, and moccasins and buckskin clothes suggesting the American West and Native Individuals.