Aardt’s founder spent several summers at a camp in the shadow of Mt. Chocorua, hence part of the personal charm of this small work. The mountain itself was a favorite subject of a number of the Hudson River School painters, notably including Jasper Cropsey as well as Thomas Cole, who painted it more than a dozen times. And Mt. Chocorua had also notably been the subject of a 1825 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Jeckoyva, which detailed the legend of the Chief Chocorua, who sought vengeance for what he believed was the poisoning death of his family at the hands of English settlers. Choosing an heroic death rather than surrender to his foes, he leapt from the summit to his death as he uttered a curse: “Lightning blast your crops! Wind and fire destroy your homes! The Evil One breathe death on your cattle! Panthers howl and wolves fatten on your bones!”
According to Shannon’s auction, where this work was acquired, the auction house was quoted as saying in the hours leading up to the sale, that “it has been an enthusiastic crowd, and if that is any indication as to how things will go tonight, we are going to do quite well.” Enthusiasm did carry over into the auction, with this work sold early on and doubling the high presale estimate of $6,000, thus being hammered at $12,000. That said, the frame itself was verified as being both period in its entirety and almost certainly made for this painting. One might note that a remade frame in the same form would’ve cost around $6,000, hence making the painting plus the original frame a nice combination.
