(Sketchbook) Near Roche
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
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
1983.83.209
Tags
Art Historical Context
George Elbert Burr's *(Sketchbook) Near Roche (1899) captures a serene landscape moment through the intimate medium of drawing. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's, this work from Burr's sketchbook depicts a farm nestled amid mountains near Roche—likely an on-the-spot study evoking the American countryside at the turn of the 20th century. Sketchbooks like this were vital tools for artists, allowing quick notations of light, form, and atmosphere during travels. Created in 1899, the piece reflects the era's growing fascination with natural beauty and regional scenes, as artists vent...
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...