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Original oil painting on canvas signed by William Sheridan Young (Ohio Realist, 1836-1878). Shows a bucolic riverside landscape and watermill in early autumn. From a private Pennsylvania estate collection.
Signed W.S. Young lower left corner of canvas.
Painting itself measures 10x8 inches, frame measures 12x10 inches. Wired and ready to hang.
Appears to be in overall good/fair condition considering age: surface has some dirt/grime accumulations, canvas edges have wear, small area with crazing, two very small spots of missing paint, frame is worn.
Please read description and look at photos carefully. Be sure to refer to our terms and conditions and ask any and all questions before making a purchase. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS: PLEASE READ IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE PURCHASING. Thank you!
About William Sheridan Young:
WILLIAM SHERIDAN YOUNG (December 4, 1836 – August 28, 1878)
A.K.A. “W. Sheridan Young,” W. S. Young”
Landscape and portrait painter. Born in Storrs Township, Ohio, the son of Caroline Moore (1806 – 1880) and John Young (1798 – 1874). His father was a prominent banker, an officer of the Merchants’ National Bank of Cincinnati, and a financial “underwriter.”
It is not clear if Young initially had any professional training as a child or was self-taught. Considering the wealth of his parents, it can be assumed he would have had access in his youth to private lessons by any Cincinnati artist of his parent’s choosing. However, to date, no reference to an initial, childhood instructor has surfaced.
By the time Young was an adult he had traveled to study in Europe, spending his time at the Royal Arts Academy located in Dusseldorf, then located in the Kingdom of Prussia. The Cincinnati Daily Commercial newspaper reported in the spring of 1858 that their agent had seen locally a picturesque “picture from the pencil of a young Cincinnati gentleman, William S. Young, who for a long time has been studying this beautiful art in the refined school in Dusseldorf.” Young himself soon returned to Cincinnati from Europe and in the autumn of 1859 the Daily Commercial remarked upon his current project: “He is engaged upon a large sized picture representing the Castle of Montjoie, one of the most romantic vestiges of feudalism in Westphalia. The work is nearly completed, and will form a valuable addition to our art productions.” In addition, the paper noted that Young had “brought with him several very flattering specimens of Cincinnati art in the shape of European landscape painting…”
In November of 1859 Young received what was perhaps one of his first public exhibitions in America at the Bowen & Williams Gallery on 4th Street in Cincinnati. The Daily Commercial noted that the paintings shown were done “from nature, and were sketched by William Young, while pursuing his studies in Westphalia. The style is bold and original, the perspective exceedingly fine, and the ensemble artistic and finished. Mr. Young is not much over the turning point of 21 years of age and bids fair to be a prominent recruit in the bright, but limited array of American artists.” In December the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Young “has some excellent landscapes, mostly German and Swiss, in his studio. There is also a very fine castellated work of his in Bowen & Williams window…”
By the spring of 1860 Young was again receiving praise for his paintings from the Cincinnati Enquirer, this time for a painting “representing one of those beautiful lakes that frequently burst upon the traveler’s sight at the turn of a bridle path in Switzerland… …The chief merits of the picture, apart from the artistic selection of the subject, undoubtedly are the management of the distances, the coloring of the grasses in the foreground, and the peculiar snow-tinged light, which… steals upon one’s aesthetic sense…” In July of 1860 he exhibited two small works at Rickey, Mallory & Company which were noted as containing “much of his peculiar merits, and much of his faults; but he is young, and will yet be one of the first of American Landscape Painters.”
Between 1860 and 1863 he was a member of the Cincinnati Sketch Club, and displayed works at their regular, informal get togethers, which often occurred in people’s homes and sometimes in individual artist’s studios. During this period continued to promote his art to the buying public. At the grand opening of Middleton’s Art Gallery in December of 1862, the Cincinnati Daily Gazette reported on some of Youngs’ paintings that were on display: “Two landscapes by Mr. Young of our city, presenting some rich Virginia scenery, are particularly pleasing and attractive.” The following year, in April of 1863, the Cincinnati Enquirer commented upon a recent painting completed by Young entitled “Castle of Indolence,” which was based upon a popular literary work of the period, and noted: “the artist has produced a painting which, if our judgement is not egregiously at fault, is destined to rank with the best American works.” Young may have briefly resided in Philadelphia during this period.
Young does not appear in Cincinnati newspaper notices again until March of 1864, when the Daily Commercial remarked upon a new work being shown in Cincinnati: “A new landscape painting fresh from the studio of the well known artist, William Young, is now on exhibition at Bonte’s. It is a sketch of scenery in New Hampshire, with a New England village in the distance.” The paper called the work “most favorable for the brilliant and almost prismatic coloring introduced in the development of the subject. There are some very remarkable effects in this picture, and a novelty of treatment which makes it sui generis, and gives to its decided artistic individuality.”
In May of that year (1864) the paper reported on two new works again shown by Young at A. P. C. Bonte’s: “The two pictures… by William Young, landscape artist, entitled “Crossing the Brook” and “Autumn Scene on the Kanawha,” have attracted much attention and admiration during the week. They are considered among the best pictures Mr. Young has ever painted…” The paper continued that Young “…is off for the war, but we hope he will find leisure to use his pencil as much for the gratification of his friends, as the sword for the discomfiture of his country’s enemies.” The U. S. military had actually indexed Young as a potential draftee in 1863, and now, almost a year later, he was off to fight in the American civil war.
By the time Young was probably discharged from service in the Union Army, perhaps sometime in 1866, it is not clear if he briefly returned to Cincinnati or immediately began to travel. But sometime soon after his release he did begin traveling and based upon the titles and dates of known works, he painted in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania in addition to his works depicting his native Ohio and neighboring West Virginia.
He was back in Cincinnati in the autumn of 1869 when he was mentioned in the Cincinnati Enquirer’s September column “Cincinnati Artists and What They Are Doing.” The article remarked that Young had recently injured himself and due to that injury he had to postpone a planned trip to “the Rocky Mountains and California.” The paper continued: “Business is evidently his motto, judging from the number of paintings unfinished he has on hand. Eighty in all… He now busy executing a scene from Lake George; also another, quite prominent, from West Virginia.” Another article commented upon some of his other recent work, including a recently unveiled painting of Maine: “Mr. Young has recently put on exhibition in A. P. C. Bonte’s store, a painting of Bare Mount, Maine…[as well as]…‘View on Bear Camp River, New Hampshire,’ and ‘Evening on the Susquehanna… [visitors] will no doubt be favorably impressed with the effort…”
Young appears to have gone off on another sketching and painting trip between the autumn of 1869 and 1870 as in September of 1870 the Cincinnati Enquirer announced he had returned from his “Eastern tour, with a portfolio of famous sketches.” The Cincinnati Enquirer noted further that Young planned to relocate shortly to Chicago, Illinois. The following June (1871) the Enquirer announced his temporary return to Cincinnati: “Will S. Young, the artist, late of Cincinnati, but now a resident of Chicago, is spending a few days in the city. He expresses great satisfaction with his new home.” Other than being present in Cincinnati for the federal census that same year and his death in 1878, it appears he was on the road most of the time, including his stint in Chicago, Illinois, which it is believed lasted until sometime around 1874.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Young does not appear to have exhibited his works in cultural institutions or gallery exhibitions with any regularity. But he did take advantage, like many other artists, of the interest by America’s growing middle class in collecting art. To tap into that market, Young appears to have partnered with a syndicate of Philadelphia based art galleries and auction houses. These entities – which operated under many different partnerships and names – offered artworks for sale at auction every few weeks or months and sent their art holdings to other regions of the United Sates to grow their sales market. From Philadelphia works traveled to Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Boston and as far away as Texas to support their operations. Among the firms involved that were based out of Philadelphia were the following: “Gabrylewitz Art Gallery,” “James S. Earle & Sons,” “Scott’s Art Gallery,” “McClees & McCanns Fine Gallery of the Fine Arts,” “Charles F. Haseltine” and “Davis & Harvey.” All had operations, for varying lengths of time, along Chestnut Street in Philadelphia.
For Young, it appears to have been highly successful, at least in terms of volume. His works were included in dozens of sales between 1865 and 1877 and would have provided a regular income to the artist without relying on prize money, which could often be elusive. In terms of renumeration, his small works sold for as little as $5 each (even then, not a huge sum), while large works could garner $100 or more, which would have provided a substantial return on his time and effort. Young’s known works are dated only through 1877, indicating that either no works from 1878 have yet been discovered or that in his final year he was not very productive, possibly due to declining health.
William Sheridan Young died in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 28, 1878 at the age of forty-one years. Newspapers reported that Young’s “sudden death” occurred overnight, his body having been discovered in the morning “and that his death is supposed to have been caused by heart disease.” They further reported that Young resided “on the Warsaw Pike, near Park avenue, in the Twenty-first Ward.” Young was buried in Cincinnati in the family plot located in Spring Grove Cemetery.In 1881 the Cincinnati Daily Gazette published an advertisement announcing that John W. Herron, administrator, had ordered the sale of the “Finished and unfinished Paintings and Sketches by W. S. Young, Artist, Deceased” at public auction in Cincinnati. The sale was organized by the firm of Ezekiel & Bernheim, auctioneers, located in their “Great Salesrooms” at 134 Main Street, and was slated for December 19 & 20, 1881, just in time for Christmas gift shopping. It is not clear how many pieces of art were part of the sale.
Based on the examination of existing works, the paintings that were created by William Sheridan Young are almost entirely portrayals of mountainous landscapes, either depicting scenes in Europe, including Scotland and the German states based upon his time studying there, or depicting locations in the United States. His American scenes include views along the Ossipee River and Mount Bare in Maine, the White Mountains, Crawford Notch, Mount Willard, Androscoggin River, Bear Camp River and Glen Ellis Creek in New Hampshire, the Hudson River in New York, the Shenandoah, Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers and scenery near Germantown and the valley of the Wyoming in Pennsylvania, scenery along the Little Miami River in Ohio, the Blue Ridge Mountains and finally, views in West Virginia.
It was between 1859 and 1862 when Young must have first traveled to what was initially the far western portion of Virginia and which became, in 1863, the newly formed state of West Virginia. Works from this period are known to depict scenes along two of the state’s waterways, the Cheat River and the Kanawha River (Three paintings by Young depicting these locations are currently held in the West Virginia University Art Museum).
Young’s paintings are usually signed “W. S. Young,” are often dated and inscribed with titles and locations on the versos. Many are identifiable even without an inscription as they depict a number of landmarks, such as specific mountains, that are recognizable to this day.
Though there are undoubtedly other exhibitions in which Young participated, those presently known include the following: Bowen & Williams Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 1859; Rickey, Mallory & Company, Cincinnati, OH, 1860; Middleton’s Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 1862; A. P. C. Bonte’s Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 1864 (twice), 1869; Gabrylewitz Art Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1865 (exhibition & sale); Ohio State Fair, Dayton, OH, 1866; James S. Earle & Sons, Philadelphia, PA, 1866, 1875 (exhibition & sale); Scott’s Art Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1866-71 (multiple exhibitions & sales); The Art Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1866 (exhibition & sale); Jacob Graff & Co., Cincinnati, OH, 1866 (2 exhibitions & sales); Gilbert & Sampson, Chicago, IL, 1866 (3 exhibitions & sales), 1867; McClees & McCanns Fine Gallery of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1866-67 (2 exhibitions & sales); Gallery Sale, Texas, 1866 (exhibition & sale); Cutter & Moriarty’s, Warren, OH, 1867; Butler, Perrigo & Co., Baltimore, MD, 1868 (exhibition & sale); Charles F. Haseltine, Philadelphia, PA, 1868; The Auction Store, Philadelphia, PA, 1869 (exhibition & sale); Leeds’ Art Gallery, New York City, NY, 1869 (exhibition & sale); J. E. McClees & Son’s at L. A. Elliot & Co., Boston, MA, 1875 (exhibition & sale); Davis & Harvey, Philadelphia, PA, 1877 (exhibition & sale).
Young’s works are known to be in the following public institutions at present: Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, Massachusetts (now deaccessioned); West Virginia University Art Museum, Morgantown, WV. The majority of his works reside in private collections throughout the United States.
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