War Sketches in the Capital
Medium
hand-colored wood engraving on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 35.4 × 50.48 cm (13 15/16 × 19 7/8 in.) sheet: 41.75 × 57.94 cm (16 7/16 × 22 13/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund)
Accession Number
2015.19.2598
Art Historical Context
"War Sketches in the Capital," created in 1862 by an American artist, offers a vivid snapshot of life in Washington, D.C., during the height of the American Civil War As Union troops and activity swirled around the nation's capital, this print captures the tension and bustle of wartime—likely featuring vignettes of soldiers, encampments, and urban scenes amid the conflict. Produced just a year into the war, it reflects the era's urgent need for visual reporting, bringing distant events into homes through affordable reproductions. Crafted as a hand-colored wood engraving on wove paper, the wor...
About the Artist
American 19th Century
The artist cataloged as "American, 19th Century" represents a collective of unidentified painters active in the United States during the nineteenth century, with 380 known artworks preserved in this virtual museum's collection. These works span a diverse array of genres typical of the era, including portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and genre scenes, reflecting the burgeoning artistic output of ...