Baker's Falls (No. 8 of The Hudson River Portfolio)
Medium
Aquatint printed in color with hand-coloring; first state of two (Koke)
Dimensions
Image: 14 1/16 x 20 3/16 in. (35.7 x 51.3 cm) Sheet: 19 x 24 1/2 in. (48.3 x 62.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
Accession Number
54.90.1274(8)
Art Historical Context
Baker’s Falls captures a dramatic cascade along the upper Hudson River rendered as the eighth plate the landmark Hudson River. Published between 1823 and 1824 by Henry J. Megarey after watercolors by Irish-born artist William Guy Wall, the print was skillfully translated into aquatint by John Hill. This ambitious series of twenty views was among the first major publications to celebrate the American landscape in fine prints, helping shape a growing national pride in the young republic’s natural wonders. The medium itself is noteworthy: aquatint, combined with color printing and delicate hand-...