Tree
Medium
graphite on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 23.02 × 28.58 cm (9 1/16 × 11 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of J. William Middendorf, II)
Accession Number
2015.19.2667
Art Historical Context
James Goodwyn Clon's *Tree* (1839) is a refined graphite drawing on wove paper, measuring 23.02 × 28.58 cm. Created during the artist's early career in America, this intimate study showcases his meticulous draftsmanship. Clonney, an English-born painter who emigrated to the United States in the 1830s, was renowned for his lively genre scenes of rural life, often infused with humor and everyday charm. Here, the simple subject—a solitary tree—highlights his foundational skills in capturing nature's forms with graphite's versatile range of tones, from soft shadows to crisp outlines. Wove paper, ...
About the Artist
James Goodwyn Clonney
James Goodwyn Clonney (1812–1867) was an American genre painter and miniaturist whose warm, gently humorous depictions of rural and small-town American life place him among the most appealing practitioners of the antebellum genre tradition. Born in England and brought to the United States as a child, he studied drawing and miniature painting in New York and worked for a period as a miniature portr...