Railroad on the Dalles of the St. Louis
1882
Medium
graphite heightened with white on light green wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 19.8 × 26.9 cm (7 13/16 × 10 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
John Davis Hatch Collection
Accession Number
1979.20.124
Art Historical Context
Alfred R. Waud’s 1882 drawingRailroad on the Dalles of the St. Louis* captures a moment of industrial progress amid dramatic natural scenery. Created in graphite heightened with white on light green wove paper, the work uses the colored ground to suggest atmosphere while the added highlights bring luminosity to rocky terrain and the curving rail line. At just under 20 by 27 centimeters, the intimate scale invites close viewing of Waud’s precise linework and subtle tonal modeling. Waud, best known for his Civil War illustrations, turned in later years to landscapes that recorded America’s rapi...