The Frost Farm

Artist Kate C. Frost

Periodca. 1890

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions17 × 21 in. (43.2 × 53.3 cm)

SignedSigned lower left, "K. Frost."

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineGift of the Estate of Anne Jackson Riker, 1983

Object number1983.9.3

DescriptionA farmscape depicting a white-painted, two story house on the right, with a three-bay facade, two-third Georgian floorplan consisting of two rooms to the left of a central hallway, green-painted shutters, and two white chimneys on the left gable. A lower two story wing attaches to the main structure on the right. It has a columned porch, green-painted shutters, and a single chimney on its right gable end. Two paneled entrance doors to the house are painted brown. A brick smoke house, shed, and well are situated to the right of the house. An English-style, red-painted barn is situated to the left of the house, and at some distance from it. A corn crib and small shed are located close to it, along with a stack of hay and three stacks of corn stalks. The yard between the house and barn is fenced off with a white-painted picked fence. Trees are depicted in front of and to the left of the house. Four chickens, three cows, a male figure, and a dog appear in the field in front of the farmstead. Fruit trees have been planted along the driveway at the extreme right edge of the painting. A hill rises to the left behind the house and barn.
Curatorial RemarksThe fine Georgian-style house depicted in the painting is typical of Monmouth County farmhouses of the first half of the nineteenth century. It is well-removed from the barn and its related structures, which actually face in a different direction. Fencing as well as tree plantings further separate the domestic world from its supporting farming activities. A distinct similarity in composition and style to the work of artist David P. Van Brackle makes it tempting to speculate that Kate Frost may have been one of his students.NotesThe Frost Farm was supposedly located on the north side of Kings Highway East in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, east of its intersection with Route 35 and west of the New Jersey Southern Railroad alignment. The name of the painting apparently derives from the signature of the artist, K. Frost. There was a farm at that location owned in 1873 by J. T. Stout, and in 1889 by John West, according to the Beers and Wolverton atlases of Monmouth County. And a hill does exist to the west of where the farmstead was presumably located. Another farm to the northwest of the Stout/West property was owned by Daniel Frost (1812 - 1892), with access to it off Tindall Road. However, the geography of that area is not as consistent with the painting as is the location off Kings Highway East. The artist appears to have been Miss Kate C. Frost (1851 - 1931). She was a daughter of John Frost, who had lived in Middletown since 1852. Miss Frost died at her home on Conover Avenue in Middletown village, where she had resided for fifty years. For many years, she shared this home with her aunt, Miss Lydia T. Frost (1845 - 1926). Given all the evidence to date, the painting probably depicts the farm on Kings Highway East, and it was executed by Kate Frost, who did not live there. The proper historical name for this work remains to be determined.

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