Provenance

Probably by inheritance to the artist's grandniece, Genevieve Plummer [1881-1969]; gift 1954 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; (sale, C.G. Sloans Auctioneers, Bethesda, Maryland, 1954).[1] private collection(s); consigned c. 1985 to (C.G. Sloans Auctioneers, Bethesda);[2] sold c. 1985 to Eric and Candace Von Salzen, Washington, until 1990; Eric Von Salzen, Washington; sold November 2003 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2016 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] The fact that the artist's grandniece owned the painting suggests that it likely come to her through the family. Both this painting and NGA 2016.22. , the artist's Maryland Heights: Siege of Harper's Ferry, were accepted as gifts in 1954 by the Corcoran with the understanding that Sunrise on the Potomac could be sold at auction and the proceeds used to offset the cost of restoring Maryland Heights. Therefore the Corcoran never accessioned this painting, and it was sold later the same year as from an anonymous consignor.
[2] At the time of the mid-1980s purchase by the Von Salzens, Donald Webster of C.G. Sloans Auctioneers told Candace Von Salzen, a MacLeod scholar, that the painting had been in the "Hopkins Estate" prior to its consignment, but provided no further details about this owner. See e-mail of 28 October 2003, Candace McIlhenny (formerly Candace Von Salzen) to Emily Shapiro, Corcoran Curatorial Fellow, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2005

2013

Bibliography

1981

2011

Inscriptions

lower right, partly illegible date: W MacLeod / 18[52?]

Wikidata ID

Q46628282