Nevin, North Wales
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Carolann Smurthwaite in memory of her mother, Caroline Atherton Connell Smurthwaite
Accession Number
1983.83.280
Tags
Art Historical Context
George Elbert Burr’s 1899 painting *Nevin, North Wales* invites viewers to experience the rugged beauty of the Welsh coastline. Created at the close of the nineteenth century, work reflects the period’s growing fascination with travel and plein-air painting, when American artists ventured abroad to capture dramatic natural settings. The coastal of Nevin, with its sweeping shores and atmospheric light, highlights Burr’s ability to translate the quiet drama of the landscape onto canvas. As a painting in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection, this piece offers a window into how Americ...
About the Artist
George Elbert Burr
George Elbert Burr was an American printmaker and watercolorist whose career spanned the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, earning him a reputation as one of the foremost etchers of the American West. Born in 1859 in Monroe Falls, Ohio, Burr trained as a commercial illustrator before turning his full attention to fine art. He honed his craft through diligent self-study and close obser...