Landscape with Trees and Encampment (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
1992.2.2u recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Trost Richards, a prominent 19th-century American artist known for his meticulous landscapes, created *Landscape with Trees and Encment (from Sketchbook)* in 1885. This intimate graphite drawing on off-white wove paper measures just 5 x 7½ inches, capturing a serene natural scene with towering trees and a subtle human encampment. As part of his extensive sketchbooks, it reflects Richards' passion for direct observation of nature, honed during sketching trips that informed his larger oil paintings and watercolors. Richards drew inspiration from the Hudson River School tradition but inf...
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...