Shickshinny, Pennsylvania (Susquehanna at Shickshinny); Weir on the Susquehanna

Art Historical Context

Thomas Addison Richards’s delicate graphite drawing captures a tranquil view of the Susquehanna River at Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, in 1852. The small sheet, measuring just 5½ by 8½ inches, records modest houses nestled along the water’s edge, with mountains rising in the distance and boats drifting on the current. Created on off-white wove paper, the sketch invites close looking, revealing Richards’s careful attention to light and texture as he recorded this everyday American river scene. As a work on paper rather than a finished painting, the drawing likely served as a study made during travels through the mid-Atlantic states. Graphite’s portability allowed artists like Richards to work directly from nature, preserving fleeting impressions of light on water and the gentle contours of the landscape. Today it resides in the Metropolitan Museum’s American Wing, where it offers visitors a glimpse of how nineteenth-century artists documented the young nation’s waterways and settlements. The piece reflects a broader cultural fascination with American scenery at mid-century, when rivers such as the Susquehanna were vital arteries for trade and travel. Richards’s modest yet evocative sketch reminds us that even the simplest drawings can preserve a sense of place and time.