Man (with Sword?) (from Sketchbook)
Medium
Graphite, pen, ink, and watercolor on paper
Dimensions
Dimensions unavailable
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Gift of William Gedney Bunce, by exchange, 1979
Accession Number
1979.581.63
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, *Man (with Sword?) (from Sketchbook by John William Casile offers a glimpse into the personal sketchbook of a 19th-century American artist. Casilear (1811–1893), best known for his luminous Hudson River School landscapes, here turns to figure studies, capturing a mysterious male subject—possibly armed with a sword—in a moment of poised intensity. This rare departure from his typical natural scenes highlights the versatility of artists who filled sketchbooks with preparatory drawings, ideas, and observations during travels or daily life...
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...