Clearly I love the process finding things I think are wonderful, and researching them enough to have a general sense of what they are, but as is obvious my tastes are fairly far-ranging, and I am expert on very little! As such, I much prefer to shepherd things along to others with greater knowledge than to sit on them myself, as is the case with this painting, which I believe may be fairly significant, and of well greater value than the price I am putting on it.

I know that is Hudson River School and I am pretty certain 1830-1850 or so, oil on poplar wood panel. At left appears to be a large farm house, with silo behind it, but I am not so sure about the rest of the structures, which suggest a sort of fortress. The combination of them, together with the strangeness of the foreground, particularly, suggest that it may be more of a fantasy painting than one based on an actual site, but I'm not entirely sure. In any event, it's really a beauty I think, unsigned but clearly by an accomplished artist, whichI hope might find its way back to a historic Hudson River Valley home or estate, perhaps hung in a beautiful library, where the right person would sit and research it! 

I purchased this painting from a seller in Connecticut, who had just purchased it from a private collection. It measures 21" across by 17" tall. It appears never to have been framed, and on the back are two of the its original battens. Photos show a bit of glare. There are a few surface scratches and a bit of paint loss, as detailed, primarily on a few of the bushes/trees north of the waterfall. There is also a knot in the wood panel visible on the tower at center. The painting has not been touched. There is a bit of writing in pencil on the back but it is unreadable.