Yorktown

Art Historical Context

This 1898 drawing by Ernest C. Peixotto invites viewers into a quiet street scene in Yorktown, Virginia. Rendered with the intimate detail possible only in drawing, the work captures modest houses along a simple thoroughfare, evoking the town’s enduring historic character. Created just over a century after the decisive Battle of Yorktown that helped secure American independence, the piece reflects a late-nineteenth-century interest in preserving and contemplating the nation’s Revolutionary-era landscapes. As a drawing, the medium allows for spontaneous yet precise observation, suggesting Peix...