View of Field and Tress (from Sketchbook VII)
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
1992.2.1a recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Trost Richards, a 19th-century American landscape artist associated with the Hudson River School, captured the serene beauty of the natural world in *View of Field and Treesfrom Sketchbook VII)* dated 1886. This intimate graphite drawing on off-white wove paper reflects Richards' lifelong passion for meticulous nature studies, often created during plein air excursions. At just 5 x 7 1/2 inches, it hails from one of his personal sketchbooks, offering a glimpse into the artist's preparatory process amid the evolving American art scene of the Gilded Age, where realism and close observatio...
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...