View of Poestenkill, New York
ca. 1870
Medium
Oil on wood
Dimensions
19 3/4 x 28 in. (50.2 x 71.1 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1963
Accession Number
63.201.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the quaint world of 19th-century America with *View of Poestenkill, New*, a captivating folk painting by self-taught artist Joseph H Hidley, created around 1870. This oil-on-wood panorama (19¾ × 28 inches) offers a bird's-eye vista of the small New York town, meticulously capturing its cluster of houses, prominent churches, winding roads, and surrounding landscapes. Hidley's naive style—characterized by flattened perspective, vibrant colors, and an almost map-like precision—brings everyday life to vivid detail, reflecting the pride locals felt in their communities. Hidley, a house p...