Surf on Rocks
Medium
Oil on board
Dimensions
8 3/4 x 15 7/8 in. (22.2 x 40.3 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. William T. Brewster, 1932
Accession Number
32.73.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Trost Richards' *Surf on Rocks* (1890s), an oil on board measuring just 8 3/4 x 15 7/8 inches, captures the power of the sea in a compact, intimate format. Painted late in the artist's career, this American seascape depicts turbulent waves crashing against rugged rocks, evoking the coastal scenes Richards favored. Housed in The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art—a 1932 gift from Mrs. William T. Brewster—it exemplifies the precision and luminosity of oil on board, a medium that allowed for quick, alla prima applications ideal for studying nature's fleeting effects. Richard...
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...