From Piazza. Catskill Mountain House (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
1998.381.14 recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
John William Casilear's *From Piazza. Catskill Mountain House ( Sketchbook)* captures a serene landscape view from the veranda of the renowned Catskill Mountain House, popular 19th-century hotel in New York's Catskill Mountains. Drawn between 1834 and 1838, this intimate graphite sketch on wove paper (7 1/4 x 9 in.) reflects the era's growing fascination with the American wilderness, as artists ventured into nature for inspiration. The title's "Piazza"—an Italianate term for an open balcony—highlights the hotel's architectural charm, framing the vast, misty vistas that drew tourists and painte...
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...