Awaiting the Reply
ca. 1866
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
23 1/4 x 33 1/2 in. (59.1 x 85.1 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cyrus W. Field, 1892
Accession Number
92.10.43
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the hushed interior of Robert Charles Dudley's *Awaiting the Reply*ca. 1866), an oil on canvas measuring 23¼ × 33½ inches, we glimpse a moment of profound anticipation. The painting, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of's Department of European Paintings, portrays men gathered in a domestic or office setting, their gazes fixed on the promise of a transatlantic cable message—a technological marvel that linked Europe and America for the first time. Created amid the excitement of 1866, when the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was completed after years of failed attempts, Dudley...
About the Artist
Robert Charles Dudley · 1813–1913
British, 1826–1909