Fishkill Mountain, 1871 (from Sketchbook)
ca. 1870
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
5 1/2 x 8 3/4 in. (14 x 22.2 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of S.B. Luyster, 1936
Accession Number
36.124i verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Daniel Huntington’s “Fishkill Mountain, 1871” offers a quiet glimpse into the artist’s process observing the American landscape. Rendered in graphite on paper, this modest sketch—measuring just 5½ by 8¾ inches—captures the rugged contours of the mountain and its surrounding trees with delicate, economical lines. As a page from a sketchbook, it reveals how 19th-century artists like Huntington used portable drawing materials to record fleeting impressions during travels through the Hudson Highlands. Graphite’s soft tonal range allowed Huntington to suggest both the solidity of rock and the airy...
About the Artist
Daniel Huntington · 1816–1906
Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) was born into a prominent New York family on October 4, 1816, descending from distinguished New England lineage. His early education began at age fourteen at Smith's Academy in New Haven, followed by Yale College, where he studied with Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor, artist, and president of the National Academy of Design, in 1835. After a disciplinary incident invo...