Hills and Mountains (from Sketchbook X)
Medium
Graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
5 x 7 1/2 in. (12.7 x 19.1 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Gifts in memory of Stephen D. Rubin, 1992
Accession Number
1992.2.2w
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Trost Richards, a prominent American landscape artist associated with the Hudson River School captured the rugged beauty of nature in *Hills and Mountains ( Sketchbook X)*, 1885. This graphite drawing on off-white wove paper just 5 x 7½ inches, revealing Richards' meticulous eye for detail during his sketching expeditions. As part of a personal sketchbook, it exemplifies his practice of on-site studies, translating the contours of hills and distant peaks with precise pencil strokes that convey texture, light, and depth. Richards' work reflects the 19th-century American fascination wit...
About the Artist
William Trost Richards · 1833–1905
William Trost Richards (1833–1905) was a prominent American landscape and marine painter born in Philadelphia, where he attended Central High School before beginning his artistic training. Between 1850 and 1855, he studied part-time under the German-born Hudson River School artist Paul Weber while working as a designer and illustrator of ornamental metalwork. He exhibited his first works at the Pe...