Sailboat on Lake; Figure on Shore, 1871 (from Sketchbook)
ca. 1870
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
5 1/2 x 8 3/4 in. (14 x 22.2 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of S.B. Luyster, 1936
Accession Number
36.124dd recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
Daniel Huntington's *Sailboat on Lake Figure on Shore, 1871 (from Sketchbook)* captures a serene moment of American leisure amid nature, likely sketched during the artist's travels around 1870. Rendered in graphite on a modest sheet of paper (5 1/2 x 8 3/4 in.), it depicts a sailboat gliding across a calm lake, framed by trees and a solitary figure on the shore. As a quick study from Huntington's sketchbook, it reflects the 19th-century artist's keen eye for everyday landscapes, evoking the Romantic ideal of harmony between humanity and the natural world—a theme resonant in post-Civil War Amer...
About the Artist
Daniel Huntington · 1816–1906
Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) was born into a prominent New York family on October 4, 1816, descending from distinguished New England lineage. His early education began at age fourteen at Smith's Academy in New Haven, followed by Yale College, where he studied with Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor, artist, and president of the National Academy of Design, in 1835. After a disciplinary incident invo...