Sketches of Telescopes on a Ship's Deck (from Sketchbook)
ca. 1891
Medium
Graphite on wove paper with gilt edges, bound in a leather cover
Dimensions
4 3/4 x 7 3/4 x 7/16 in. (12.1 x 19.7 x 1.1 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Marguerite H. Rohlfs, 1995
Accession Number
1995.379.3i verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Albert Bierstadt, the renowned 19th-century American landscape associated with the Hudson River School captured everyday maritime life in this intimate sketch from his personal sketchbook, dated around 1891. Best known for his grand, luminous depictions of the American West and the Rockies, Bierstadt was an avid traveler whose journeys often took him across oceans. Here, on a ship's deck, he sketched a pair of telescopes—likely navigational instruments—amid the routines of sea voyage, offering a rare glimpse into the artist's preparatory process away from his monumental canvases. Rendered in ...
About the Artist
Albert Bierstadt · 1830–1902
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) was a German-American landscape painter renowned for his monumental, luminous depictions of the American West. As a prominent member of the second generation of the Hudson River School and the Rocky Mountain School, Bierstadt created sweeping panoramas that captured the sublime grandeur of untamed wilderness with unprecedented theatrical scale and romantic vision. His ...