Sibertz Cap, Mount Tacoma Aug 23 1885 (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
1992.2.2gg verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in William Trost Richards' *Sketchbook X*, this graphite drawing captures "Sibertz Cap, Mount" on August 23, 1885. Richards, a leading American landscape artist (1833–1905) aligned with the Hudson River School was renowned for his meticulous, almost Pre-Raphaelite attention to nature's intricacies. Mount Tacoma, an early name for majestic Mount Rainier in Washington Territory, reflects the era's growing fascination with the American West, as railroads and expeditions opened remote wilderness to artists. Rendered in soft graphite on off-white wove paper (5 x 7½ in.), the sketch exempli...
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...