Beschreibung:

Edward Lamson Henry (American, 1841-1919) Descending the Staircase Signed with initials "ELH" l.l., identified on an unattributed label affixed to the back of the frame. Oil on paper laid down on board, 8 x 5 7/8 in. (20.3 x 14.9 cm), framed. Condition: Rippling, tears l.l. and u.r. (repaired), abrasions to edges. N.B. While a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Edward Lamson Henry befriended antiquarian and preservationist William Kulp and through him developed a lifelong interest in antiques and architecture. The staircase Henry depicted here is the one in Kulp's Philadelphia home at 616 Spruce Street. Henry owned a photograph of the Kulp stair landing, sketched its architectural details (these drawings are in the collection of the New York State Museum, Albany), and completed several other renderings of the interior of Kulp's home (see Amy Kurtz Lansing, Historical Fictions: Edward Lamson Henry's Paintings of Past and Present [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005], pp. 9-11, 35).