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Source Description
This painting was commissioned by William T. Walters in 1858, when the 62-year-old Durand was at the height of his fame and technical skill. The vertical format of the composition was a trademark of the artist, allowing him to exploit the grandeur of the sycamore trees as a means of framing the expansive landscape beyond.Durand's approach to the "sublime landscape" was modeled on that of Thomas Cole (1801-48), founder of the Hudson River school of painting. The painters of this school explored the countryside of the eastern United States, particularly the Adirondack Mountains and the Catskills. Their paintings often reflect the Transcendental philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), who believed that all of nature bore testimony to a spiritual truth that could be understood through personal intuition.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
19883
label
The Catskills
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
19883
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
The Catskills
description
This painting was commissioned by William T. Walters in 1858, when the 62-year-old Durand was at the height of his fame and technical skill. The vertical format of the composition was a trademark of the artist, allowing him to exploit the grandeur of the sycamore trees as a means of framing the expansive landscape beyond.Durand's approach to the "sublime landscape" was modeled on that of Thomas Cole (1801-48), founder of the Hudson River school of painting. The painters of this school explored the countryside of the eastern United States, particularly the Adirondack Mountains and the Catskills. Their paintings often reflect the Transcendental philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), who believed that all of nature bore testimony to a spiritual truth that could be understood through personal intuition.
provenance
Commissioned by William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1858, by commission [1]; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.[1] Commissioned June 8, 1858, payment made May 3, 1859. See letters from Walters to Durand in the New York Public Library, Manuscript Division
date
1859
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
oil paintings (visual works)
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
158.8
height
128.3
dimensionsRaw
H: 62 1/2 x W: 50 1/2 in. (158.8 x 128.3 cm); Framed H: 77 7/8 x W: 66 1/8 x D: 7 1/4 in. (197.8 x 167.96 x 18.42 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Signature] Below: A.B.Durand; [Date] Below: 1859
med
oil on canvas
creator_ids
5375
collection_ids
EAN
exhibition_ids
2036
2113
2160
2393
13
3300
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
14c4b907bcd1a0cf
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
0bc658571d7ae56d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no