Gothic Ruins
Medium
Graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
5 5/8 x 4 7/8 in. (14.3 x 12.4 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Erving Wolf Foundation, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1977
Accession Number
1977.182.6
Tags
About this artwork
William Rickarby Miller's 'Gothic Ruins' exemplifies the 19th-century American fascination with picturesque European architectural subjects and the Romantic aesthetics of decay. Born in England at Staindrop in 1818, Miller immigrated to the United States in 1844 along with a sister and two brothers, initially living in Buffalo, New York before moving to New York City in 1847, where he sold his watercolors through the American Art Union. His first art training was from his father, British artist ...