Herd of Cattle

Art Historical Context

Nestled among the treasures of the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection, *Herd of Cattle* is a charming 19th-century American lithograph, gifted by J. William Middendorf, II. This petite print, with its irregular image measuring just under 7 cm square on a modest sheet of wove paper, captures a herd of cattle in stark black ink. Attributed to an anonymous American artist of the era, it exemplifies the everyday scenes that dotted the American landscape during a time of rapid westward expansion and agricultural growth. Lithography, the medium here, revolutionized printmaking in the 19th century. Invented around 1798, it allowed artists to draw directly on limestone with greasy crayon, enabling multiple impressions from a single stone—a boon for affordable image reproduction. This black-line technique on smooth wove paper highlights the cows' forms with crisp, fluid lines, evoking the pastoral rhythms of rural life without color's distraction. Though small in scale, *Herd of Cattle* reflects lithography's role in disseminating visual culture to a broad audience, from newspapers to collectors' albums. Displayed in the Prints department, it invites us to ponder the unassuming beauty of 19th-century Americana, where a simple herd symbolizes the nation's agrarian heart. (198 words)

About the Artist

American 19th Century · 1800–1900

The artist cataloged as "American, 19th Century" represents a collective of unidentified painters active in the United States during the nineteenth century, with 380 known artworks preserved in this virtual museum's collection. These works span a diverse array of genres typical of the era, including portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and genre scenes, reflecting the burgeoning artistic output of ...