Study of Bay and Shore (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
36.124ff recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
Daniel Huntington's *Study of and Shore (from Sketchbook)*, created around 1870, offers a glimpse into the intimate world of an American artist's on-the-spot observations. Rendered in graphite on a modest sheet of paper measuring 5½ x 8¾ inches, this quick landscape sketch captures the fluid contours of a bay and shoreline—likely drawn during one of Huntington's travels along the coast. As a study from his personal sketchbook, it exemplifies the portable, spontaneous nature of pencil work, allowing artists to record fleeting natural light and forms with precise linework and subtle shading. Hu...
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...