Lot 779: William Skilling (British/New Orleans, 20th c.),

William Skilling (British/New Orleans, 20th c.), after Jonathan Fisher (American/Maine, 1768-1847), "A Morning View of Blue Hill Village", oil on canvas, signed and titled lower right, 30 in. x 60 in., attractively framed.

Note: William Skilling was a California artist known for his original portraits and landscapes, as well as his copies of earlier works by artists such as Edward Hicks and Giuseppe Arcimboldo. The lot illustrated here is a copy of the painting A View of Blue Hill Village, by Parson Jonathan Fisher, the minister of the small village of Blue Hill, Maine. Fisher, a Renaissance man by all accounts, studied at Harvard University, before settling in Blue Hill in 1796 His paintings often reflected views such as this one - the scenes he saw around him in everyday life.