The Falls at Montmorency, Quebec, Canada

ca. 1800-1804

Pastel, gouache, watercolor, and charcoal on paper, laid on canvas, nailed to a strainer

Overall: 15 5/8 x 21 1/8 in. (39.7 x 53.7 cm)

Gift of Ethel McCullough Scott, John G. McCullough, and Edith McCullough Heaphy

1971.122

This pastel portrays the famous falls at Montmorency, which cascade down 272 feet—99 feet more than Niagara Falls. The spectacular waterfalls of North America were popular subjects on the early Grand Tour of America, satisfying the European and American demand for views of these dramatic sites. George Beck was among the earliest professional landscape painters in America, and one of the first to push beyond the representational limits of topographical draftsmanship. He learned to draw maps in the corps of engineers at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, England. After leaving the military for health reasons, Beck worked as a drawing instructor. In 1795, he sailed for America to paint its already legendary landscapes. The new land was so promising that Beck sent for his wife and never returned to England. He lived and worked as an artist in Baltimore and Philadelphia, settling in Lexington, Kentucky, by 1807. Beck was also a classical scholar and a published poet. Beck’s known works consist primarily of paintings of American city and river views, as well as works utilizing pastel, gouache, and watercolor. Between 1800 and 1809, he provided to Atkins & Nightingale designs for six topographic prints of American views and natural wonders, engraved by Thomas Cartwright and published as aquatints. Although Beck assuredly considered his original landscape paintings and pastels significant, his current reputation rests largely on these popular aquatints. This view resembles the two depictions of waterfalls in the Atkins & Nightingale aquatint series, The Great Falls of the Potomac and The Falls of Niagara. The pastel and its pendant (1971.123), both in their identical original églomisé mounts and frames, share a common, albeit unknown, provenance.

InscribedCanvas inscribed at lower center in charcoal: "Falls Montmorenci."; original gold and black painted glass (églomisé) mount lettered: "FALLS MONTMORENCI"

ClassificationsDRAWINGS