Fort Monekton (from Sketchbook)
1834, 1838
Medium
Graphite on wove paper
Dimensions
7 1/4 x 9 in. (18.4 x 22.9 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Morris K. Jesup Fund, 1998
Accession Number
1998.381.25 recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum Art, *Fort Monekton ( Sketchbook)* by John William Casilear a serene 19th-century landscape through the intimate medium of graphite on wove paper. Dated to 1834 and 1838, this modest 7¼ x 9-inch sketch from the artist's personal sketchbook offers a glimpse into Casilear's observational process during what may have been a period of travel or study abroad. The fort, rendered with precise pencil strokes, stands amid pastoral elements like farms and grazing cows, evoking a harmonious blend of military architecture and rural tranquility. Grap...
About the Artist
John William Casilear · 1811–1893
John William Casilear, born on June 25, 1811, in New York City, began his artistic career as an engraver, apprenticed under the prominent Peter Maverick in 1826. He later studied painting under Asher B. Durand in 1831, forming a close friendship that profoundly shaped his path. Durand, influenced by Thomas Cole, introduced Casilear to landscape painting by the mid-1830s, transitioning him from ban...