Landscape with Teepee and Totem (from Sketchbook X)
Medium
Graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
5 x 7 1/2 in. (12.7 x 19.1 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Gifts in memory of Stephen D. Rubin, 1992
Accession Number
1992.2.2h recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Trost Richards, a figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painting, created this intimate graphite sketch, *Landscape with Teepee Totem (from Sketchbook X)*, 1885. Measuring just 5 x 7½ inches, the drawing on off-white wove paper a serene Western vista featuring a Native American teepee and totem pole, evoking the rugged beauty of the American frontier. Richards, renowned for his meticulous realism and luminous detail, often filled sketchbooks like this one during travels, using them as studies for larger oils and watercolors. Graphite's versatility shines here, allowi...
About the Artist
William Trost Richards · 1833–1905
William Trost Richards (1833–1905) was a prominent American landscape and marine painter born in Philadelphia, where he attended Central High School before beginning his artistic training. Between 1850 and 1855, he studied part-time under the German-born Hudson River School artist Paul Weber while working as a designer and illustrator of ornamental metalwork. He exhibited his first works at the Pe...