The Prayer
c. 1860s
Medium
charcoal and chalk on blue-gray paper
Dimensions
sheet: 31.75 × 25.56 cm (12 1/2 × 10 1/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Membership Association Fund)
Accession Number
2015.19.746
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
William Morris Hunt’s “ Prayer,” created around the1860s, is a sensitive drawing executed in charcoal and chalk on blue-gray paper. The sheet’s modest size—just over twelve by ten inches—invites close viewing, allowing the soft interplay of dark and light marks to convey a quiet, introspective moment. The mid-tone paper serves as a natural middle ground, letting Hunt build subtle gradations of shadow and highlight without the stark contrast of white paper. Acquired through the Corcoran Collection and now part of the National Gallery of Art, the work reflects the growing appreciation in nineteenth-century America for drawings as independent, finished statements rather than mere studies. The medium’s immediacy and portability suited Hunt’s interest in capturing fleeting emotional states, offering today’s visitors an intimate window into both personal devotion and the artistic techniques of the period.
About the Artist
William Morris Hunt · 1824–1879
American, Brattleboro, Vermont 1824–1879 Appledore, New Hampshire