Currently there is very little published on Bunner at all, but The Met is publishing a book on their paper collection (of which they have Bunner sketches) so more information might surface when that gets published.
The Early and Late Works
Andrew Fisher Bunner’s early works were modeled after those by the Hudson River School.
The Hudson River School paintings “combined meticulous, factual description with romantic feeling for the beauty, grandeur, and nobility of American scenery”[1]. The typical paintings of the Hudson River School were landscapes of “undefiled scenery of the northeastern United States”[2] especially of New York State, where the Hudson River is located.
If we look at A.F. Bunner’s On the River, we can see the influence of the Hudson River School. The painting is of an undisclosed location, but is more than likely a scene
in the Catskills or Adirondack Mountains. The work is clam and peaceful with someone lazily rowing on the lake. The work is the celebration of the American landscape and how our landscape is vastly different from Europe. If you compare Bunner’s On the River with Thomas Doughty, 1793-1856[3], In The Catskills you can see how Bunner uses the Hudson River School’s use of grand and unaltered landscapes, smoky mountains in the distance, and the picture containing one person or suggestion of a person.
Andrew Fisher Bunner’s later works would expand on his early influence of the Hudson River School and his time in Europe and Venice. His later works were of marine landscapes and he frequented the East
Hamptons, a popular artist colony at the end of the 19th century[4]. As we seen in his work The Wreck, the painting is the love of the sea he must have developed from his time in Venice as well as the ideas of the vast landscape that is present in the Hudson River School works. Andrew Fisher Bunner’s early works would shape his Venice works and his Venice works
would shape his later works.
[1]“Hudson River School” The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists. Ann Lee Morgan, Oxford University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of Mary Washington. 8 December 2008 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t238.e646>
[2] “Hudson River School” The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists. Ann Lee Morgan, Oxford University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of Mary Washington. 8 December 2008 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t238.e646>
[3] Http://www.artstor.org/artstor/ViewImages?id=8CJGczI9NzldLS1WEDhzTnkrX3kidFl9eyA%3D&userId=hzRAcw%3D%3D
Responses
By: Jessica Dalrymple on March 14th, 2011
at 7:47 pm
I am seen an 1887 , signed A.F. Bunner river-land view, also signed T. Nouvain ( sp. ???)in the lower right hand corner, and referencing Klackner, 17 E. 17th St., NYC. Cannot make out the signature in the lower right hand corner of this approximate 30+ inch long by 14 inch or so height. Any ideas? The land portion of the scene includes a windmill.
By: sam johnson on July 21st, 2012
at 8:16 pm
I have a A F Bunner original engraving of a mother and daughter in front of a cottage on the River or ocean. The left side is his signature and the other side is Emil Milo? I was wondering if any others are around or any information . Thanks
By: Suzy Gentile on February 20th, 2016
at 2:03 pm