AMERICAN PRE-RAPHAELITE ART

 

AMERICAN PRE-RAPHAELITE ART
April 14 through july 21, 2019
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Ruskin (1819–1900), the most influential art critic of the Victorian era, the National Gallery of Art will present more than 80 paintings, watercolors, drawings, and photographs created by American artists who were profoundly influenced by the renowned critic.

John Ruskin, 1863by William-Downey

 

Revolutionary concepts

Ruskin’s call for a revolutionary change in the practice of art found a sympathetic audience in America among a group of like-minded artists, architects, scientists, critics, and collectors who organized the Association for the Advancement of Truth in Art.
The Association members included artists who produced a remarkable number of stunningly beautiful works during the period when they were active members and paying strict attention to Ruskin’s admonition that they leave tradition behind, exit the studio, work outdoors, and reproduce nature’s “truth” with exacting detail.

Artists committed to their time  

New research reveals that the members of the Association sought reform not only in the practice of art, but also in the broader political arena during the Civil War era, particularly in the debate about slavery. They were united by a patriotic commitment to the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery. The founding meeting of the Association took place at the height of the Civil War—just days after Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

HIGHLIGHTS
including several recently discovered works never exhibited publicly   

LANDSCAPE

Thomas Charles Farrer, “Mount Tom”, 1865. oil on canvas, overall: 40.6 x 61.6 cm (16 x 24 1/4 in.) framed: 64.14 x 83.5 x 8.89 cm (25 1/4 x 32 7/8 x 3 1/2 in.) National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Wilmerding Collection, Promised Gift

William Trost Richards, “Landscape”, c. 1863–1864, oil on canvas, overall: 59.69 x 85.09 cm (23 1/2 x 33 1/2 in.) framed: 87.63 x 111.76 x 10.16 cm (34 1/2 x 44 x 4 in.) Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville

William Trost Richards, “Path in the Woods”, 1861, oil on canvas, overall: 71.12 x 58.42 cm (28 x 23 in.) framed: 106.68 x 88.9 cm (42 x 35 in.) Private Collection. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

William Trost Richards, “October”, 1863, oil on canvas, overall: 71.4 x 61 cm (28 1/8 x 24 in.) framed: 96.5 x 85.4 x 13 cm (38 x 33 5/8 x 5 1/8 in.) National Gallery of Art, Washington, The William Stamps Farish Fund

Robert J. Pattison, “Mountain View”, c. 1867, watercolor on paper with graphite, touches of gouache and scraping, overall: 52.86 x 75.72 cm (20 13/16 x 29 13/16 in.) framed: 78.42 x 99.7 x 4.45 cm (30 7/8 x 39 1/4 x 1 3/4 in.) The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund

John William Hill, “View from High Tor, Haverstraw, New York”, c. 1866, watercolor on paper, overall: 29.85 x 45.72 cm (11 3/4 x 18 in.) mat: 55.88 x 71.12 cm (22 x 28 in.) framed: 62.23 x 77.47 cm (24 1/2 x 30 1/2 in.) New-York Historical Society, Foster-Jarvis Fund Photography © New York Historical Society

John William Hill, “Mountain Stream (Catskill Creek)”, 1863, watercolor on paper, overall: 33.18 x 43.34 cm (13 1/16 x 17 1/16 in.) framed: 53.34 x 63.18 x 3.81 cm (21 x 24 7/8 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Mary Stewart Bierstadt, by exchange

John Henry Hill, “Natural Bridge, Virginia”, 1876, watercolor on paper, overall: 53.98 x 35.88 cm (21 1/4 x 14 1/8 in.) framed: 76.2 x 60.96 x 3.81 cm (30 x 24 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard L. Milberg

John Henry Hill, “A Study of Trap Rock (Buttermilk Falls)”, 1863, oil on canvas, overall: 60.96 x 50.8 cm (24 x 20 in.) framed: 84.14 x 74.14 x 7.62 cm (33 1/8 x 29 3/16 x 3 in.) Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the artist, 1882, Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

John Henry Hill, “Lake George”, 1875, watercolor on paper, overall: 26.51 x 35.56 cm (10 7/16 x 14 in.) framed: 45.72 x 60.96 x 3.81 cm (18 x 24 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Mary Stewart Bierstadt, by exchange

Henry Farrer, “On Whitehead, Coast of Maine”, 1875, watercolor on paper, overall: 30.48 x 46.99 cm (12 x 18 1/2 in.) Leonard and Ellen Milberg

Henry Farrer, “Winter Scene in Moonlight”, 1869, watercolor and gouache on white wove paper, overall: 30.2 x 38.6 cm (11 7/8 x 15 3/16 in.) framed: 54.29 x 62.87 x 6.67 cm (21 3/8 x 24 3/4 x 2 5/8 in.) Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Morris K. Jessup Fund, Martha and Barbara Fleischman, and Katherine and Frank Martucci Gifts, 1999, Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Henry Roderick Newman, “The Horses of St. Marks”, 1890, watercolor on paper, overall: 64.77 x 42.23 cm (25 1/2 x 16 5/8 in.) framed: 92.71 x 66.68 x 5.08 cm (36 1/2 x 26 1/4 x 2 in.) Rob and Mary Joan Leith

Henry Roderick Newman, “Italy”, 1883, watercolor on paper, overall: 100.33 x 66.99 cm (39 1/2 x 26 3/8 in.) Leonard and Ellen Milberg

Henry Roderick Newman, “Grapes and Olives”, 1878, watercolor on paper, overall: 66.04 x 47.78 cm (26 x 18 13/16 in.) framed: 90.49 x 67.31 x 3.81 cm (35 5/8 x 26 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Purchased with funds given by Sol Schreiber in memory of Rose Schreiber, and with funds given by Joanne Witty and Eugene Keiliy, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Designated Purchase Fund

Charles Herbert Moore, “Autumn Landscape”, 1865–1868, oil on canvas, overall: 22.23 x 34.93 cm (8 3/4 x 13 3/4 in.) framed: 44.45 x 57.15 cm (17 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.) Leonard and Ellen Milberg

 

Fidelia Bridges, “Study of Ferns”, 1864, oil on board, overall: 25.4 x 30.48 cm (10 x 12 in.) framed: 40.32 x 48.26 x 8.26 cm (15 7/8 x 19 x 3 1/4 in.) New Britain Museum of American Art, Gift of Jean E. Taylor

John William Hill, “West Nyack, New York (The Lilies of the Field)”, 1868, watercolor on paper, overall: 30.48 x 41.59 cm (12 x 16 3/8 in.) framed: 49.85 x 61.28 x 3.81 cm (19 5/8 x 24 1/8 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of George J. Arden, Carroll J. Dickson, Mrs. Alfred T. Dillhoff, the Estate of Emil Fuchs, Mrs. Willis Reese, and Dr. Ben Shenson, by exchange, and the Dick S. Ramsay Fund

 

John Ruskin, “Fragment of the Alps”, c. 1854–1856, watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper overall: 33.5 x 49.3 cm (13 3/16 x 19 7/16 in.) framed: 61.28 x 76.52 x 2.22 cm (24 1/8 x 30 1/8 x 7/8 in.) Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Gift of Samuel Sachs Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College

References to the war

Coded references to the war are present in several detailed landscape paintings that do not appear—at first glance—to carry symbolic meaning, including William Trost Richards’s A Neglected Corner of the Wheatfield (1865) and Charles Herbert Moore’s Hudson River, Above Catskill (1865). Both works resonate with a range of explicit and hidden messages related to the war. 

A NEGLECTED CORNER OF THE WHEATFIELD William Trost Richards, “A Neglected Corner of the Wheatfield”, 1865, oil on canvas, overall: 35.56 x 43.18 cm
(14 x 17 in.) framed: 66 x 58.4 x 10.2 cm (26 x 23 x 4 in.) Private collection

HUDSON RIVER, ABOVE CATSKILLCharles Herbert Moore, “Hudson River, Above Catskill”, 1865, oil on canvas, overall: 25.72 x 40.64 cm (10 1/8 x 16 in.) framed: 56.52 x 71.76 x 13.34 cm (22 1/4 x 28 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.) Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth

 

STILL LIFE

During the heyday of the movement in the mid-1860s, the realists’ hyper-detailed and vividly colored oil paintings and watercolors were interpreted by the partisan critical voices of The New Path as vibrant agents promoting reform when displayed among conventional works.

John William Hill, “Plums, Pears, Peaches, and a Grape”, 1864, watercolor on paper, overall: 21.75 x 33.18 cm (8 9/16 x 13 1/16 in.) framed: 38.1 x 48.26 cm (15 x 19 in.) Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

John William Hill, “Pineapples”, c. 1864, watercolor on paper, overall: 26.67 x 38.42 cm (10 1/2 x 15 1/8 in.) framed: 45.72 x 60.96 x 3.81 cm (18 x 24 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Purchased with funds given by Mr. and Mrs. Leonard L. Milberg

 

John William Hill, “Grapes”, 1864, watercolor on paper, overall: 20.96 x 19.05 cm (8 1/4 x 7 1/2 in.) framed: 38.74 x 36.2 cm (15 1/4 x 14 1/4 in.) Leonard and Ellen Milberg

John William Hill, “Dead Blue Jay”, c. 1865, watercolor and graphite with selective light glazing on paper, mounted on card, overall: 14.92 x 30.48 cm (5 7/8 x 12 in.) mat: 40.64 x 55.88 cm (16 x 22 in.) framed: 45.72 x 60.96 cm (18 x 24 in.) New-York Historical Society, Gift of Mrs. Charlan Whiteley Plummer Gellatly. Photography © New York Historical Society

 

John William Hill, “Bird’s Nest and Dog Roses”, 1867, watercolor, gouache, graphite, and selective glazing with scratching out on paper, overall: 27.46 x 35.56 cm (10 13/16 x 14 in.) mat: 40.64 x 55.88 cm (16 x 22 in.) framed: 45.72 x 60.96 cm (18 x 24 in.) New-York Historical Society, Gift of Mrs. Roswell Skeel, Jr. Photography © New York Historical Society

Thomas C. Farrer, “Three Eggs”, 1868, watercolor on paper, overall: 12.7 x 25.4 cm (5 x 10 in.) framed: 26.67 x 39.37 cm (10 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.) Lent by Elizabeth Feld-Herzberg and Peter A. Feld Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

Henry Farrer, “Pink Rose”, 1874, watercolor on paper, overall: 11.75 x 26.04 cm (4 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.) framed: 30.48 x 45.09 cm (12 x 17 3/4 in.) Elizabeth Feld-Herzberg. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

 

Henry Farrer, “Two Birds: Canary and Robin”, 1867, watercolor on paper, overall: 18.73 x 14.76 cm (7 3/8 x 5 13/16 in.) framed: 44.45 x 39.37 cm (17 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.) Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

John Henry Hill, “Thrush’s Nest”, 1866, pen and ink on paper, overall: 40.64 x 31.75 cm (16 x 12 1/2 in.) Leonard and Ellen Milberg

Henry Roderick Newman, “Sasanqua, Wild Tea, Yokohama”, 1898, watercolor on paper, overall: 50.8 x 35.56 cm (20 x 14 in.) framed: 69.85 x 53.98 cm (27 1/2 x 21 1/4 in.) Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

 

GENRE PAINTING

William John Hennessy, “Mon Brave”, 1870, oil on board, overall: 30.32 x 22.7 cm (11 15/16 x 8 15/16 in.) framed: 37.15 x 30 cm (14 5/8 x 11 13/16 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Purchased with Funds given by the Rembrandt Club

Aaron Draper Shattuck, “The Shattuck Family, with Grandmother, Mother and Baby William”, 1865, oil on canvas, overall: 50.8 x 40.32 cm (20 x 15 7/8 in.) framed: 66.36 x 57.15 cm (26 1/8 x 22 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Given in memory of Mary and John D. Nodine, by Judith and Wilbur Ross

Robert Bolling Brandegee, “Writing to Mother”, 1869, watercolor on paper, overall: 23.81 x 22.54 cm (9 3/8 x 8 7/8 in.) framed: 43.5 x 38.42 cm (17 1/8 x 15 1/8 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund

Thomas C. Farrer, “Practicing Her Lesson”, 1859, pencil, heightened with tempera, on wove paper, prepared with a cream ground, overall: 30.16 x 23.5 cm (11 7/8 x 9 1/4 in.) framed: 56.2 x 43.5 x 3.81 cm (22 1/8 x 17 1/8 x 1 1/2 in.) The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Gift of Mr. Charles Ryskamp, The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York

 

PORTRAITS

Thomas C. Farrer, “Portrait of John William Hill”, c. 1859, graphite and gouache on paper, overall: 12.1 x 11.4 cm (4 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.) mat: 35.6 x 27.9 cm (14 x 11 in.) framed: 38.74 x 31.12 cm (15 1/4 x 12 1/4 in.) New-York Historical Society, Gift of Samuel V. Hoffman. Photography © New York Historical Society

Thomas C. Farrer, “Self-Portrait, Sketching”, c. 1859, pencil on tan paper with Chinese white, overall: 26.67 x 19.37 cm (10 1/2 x 7 5/8 in.) framed: 43.18 x 37.47 cm (17 x 14 3/4 in.) Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

Thomas C. Farrer, “Gone! Gone!”, 1860, oil on canvas, overall: 50.8 x 35.56 cm (20 x 14 in.) framed: 60.96 x 43.18 cm (24 x 17 in.) The Hon. William Gibson

Robert J. Pattison, “Portrait of John Henry Hill”, 1860, pen and ink on paper, overall: 10.16 x 7.94 cm (4 x 3 1/8 in.) Leonard and Ellen Milberg

 

BOTANICS

Fidelia Bridges, “Calla Lily”, 1875, watercolor on paper, overall: 35.56 x 25.4 cm (14 x 10 in.) framed: 60.96 x 45.72 x 3.81 cm (24 x 18 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Museum Collection Fund

Fidelia Bridges, “Milkweeds”, 1876, watercolor on paper, image: 40.64 x 24.13 cm (16 x 9 1/2 in.) overall: 43.82 x 33.02 cm (17 1/4 x 13 in.) framed: 71.1 x 55.9 x 3.2 cm (28 x 22 x 1 1/4 in.) Proctor Collection, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Museum of Art, Utica, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute / Art Resource, NY

Fidelia Bridges, “Wisteria on a Wall”, 1870s, watercolor on paper, overall: 35.56 x 25.56 cm (14 x 10 1/16 in.) framed: 60.96 x 45.72 x 3.81 cm (24 x 18 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. O. Kelley Anderson, Jr.

Aaron Draper Shattuck, “Leaf Study with Yellow Swallow Tail”, c. 1859, oil on canvas, overall: 45.72 x 32.39 cm (18 x 12 3/4 in.) framed: 65.72 x 53.5 x 3.97 cm (25 7/8 x 21 1/16 x 1 9/16 in.) Private Collection. Photo by Laura Wulf

Henry Roderick Newman, “Anemones and Daffodils”, 1884, watercolor on paper, overall: 53.98 x 30.48 cm (21 1/4 x 12 in.) framed: 75.25 x 51.12 cm (29 5/8 x 20 1/8 in.) Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Museum Purchase, The J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo by Travis Fullerton

John Henry Hill, “Fringed Gentians”, c. 1867, watercolor on paper, overall: 25.72 x 18.1 cm (10 1/8 x 7 1/8 in.) framed: 43.5 x 38.42 x 3.81 cm (17 1/8 x 15 1/8 x 1 1/2 in.) Brooklyn Museum, New York, Purchased with funds given by Mr. and Mrs. Leonard L. Milberg

John Henry Hill, “Gentians”, 1870, watercolor heightened with gum glaze over graphite on paper, sheet: 33.34 x 39.37 cm (13 1/8 x 15 1/2 in.) Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth

John Henry Hill, “Waterlilies”, c. 1870, watercolor on paper, overall: 12.86 x 19.21 cm (5 1/16 x 7 9/16 in.) framed: 26.67 x 33.66 cm (10 1/2 x 13 1/4 in.) Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

John William Hill, “Peach Blossoms”, 1874, watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, overall: 40.8 x 24.4 cm (16 1/16 x 9 5/8 in.) framed: 61.6 x 46.36 cm (24 1/4 x 18 1/4 in.) Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of J. Henry Hill, 1882, Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thomas C. Farrer, “June”, 1867, oil on board, overall: 24.13 x 16.51 cm (9 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.) framed: 43.18 x 34.29 cm (17 x 13 1/2 in.) Private Collection

William Trost Richards, “The Conservatory”, 1860, oil on wood panel, overall: 27.62 x 21.75 cm (10 7/8 x 8 9/16 in.) framed: 40.64 x 34.29 cm (16 x 13 1/2 in.) Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Photography by Eric W. Baumgartner

William Trost Richards, “Red Clover with Butter-And-Eggs, and Ground Ivy”, 1860, watercolors with selectively applied glaze over graphite on paper, overall: 17.3 x 13.49 cm (6 13/16 x 5 5/16 in.) framed: 53.98 x 41.28 × 3.33 cm (21 1/4 x 16 1/4 x 1 5/16 in.) Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

John Ruskin, “Twig of Peach Bloom”, c. 1874, watercolor and gouache on cream wove paper, overall: 20.9 x 16.1 cm (8 1/4 x 6 5/16 in.) framed: 49.85 x 39.69 x 2.22 cm (19 5/8 x 15 5/8 x 7/8 in.) Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Bequest of Mrs. Alfred Mansfield. Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

William James Stillman, “Photographic Study from Photographic Studies by W. J. Stillman”. Part 1. The Forest. Adirondac Woods, 1859, albumen print, overall: 18.4 x 14.6 cm (7 1/4 x 5 3/4 in.) framed: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.) Milne Library Special Collections, State University of New York College at Geneseo

William James Stillman, “Photographic Study from Photographic Studies by W. J. Stillman”. Part 1. The Forest. Adirondac Woods, 1859, albumen print, overall: 18.4 x 14 cm (7 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.) framed: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.) Milne Library Special Collections, State University of New York College at Geneseo

William James Stillman, “Photographic Study from Photographic Studies by W. J. Stillman”. Part 1. The Forest. Adirondac Woods, 1859, albumen print, overall: 21 x 15.9 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.) framed: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.) Milne Library Special Collections, State University of New York College at Geneseo

William James Stillman, “Photographic Study from Photographic Studies by W. J. Stillman”. Part 1. The Forest. Adirondac Woods, 1859, albumen print, overall: 21 x 15.9 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.) framed: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.) Milne Library Special Collections, State University of New York College at Geneseo

About The Association for the Advancement of Truth in Art

    Was founded in January 1863 to promote Ruskin’s teachings. Member artists not only recorded the natural world with strict fidelity, as Ruskin advocated, but also created a number of works that included rich political subtexts referencing the ongoing war.
    Thomas Charles Farrer (1839–1891), a young British expatriate who had studied in London with Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), became the leader of this eclectic group. 
Other “radical realists” hailed by the Association’s journal, The New Path, as America’s modern painters are included in the exhibition: John Henry Hill (1839–1922); John William Hill (1812–1879); Charles Herbert Moore (1840–1930); Henry Roderick Newman (1843–1917); Robert J. Pattison (1838–1903); and William Trost Richards (1833–1905).
    Nonmember artists who were attracted by Ruskin’s ideas and felt the Association’s influence are also represented in the exhibition including Fidelia Bridges (1834–1923), the best known among Ruskinian women artists; Robert B. Brandegee (1849–1922); Henry Farrer (1844–1903), Thomas’s brother; William John Hennessy (1839–1917); Aaron Draper Shattuck (1832–1928); and William James Stillman (1828-1901). Several works by John Ruskin himself introduce the exhibition.
    During the heyday of the movement in the mid-1860s, the realists’ hyper-detailed and vividly colored oil paintings and watercolors were interpreted by the partisan critical voices of The New Path as vibrant agents promoting reform when displayed among conventional works.

 

EXHIBITION CURATORS
The exhibition is curated by Linda S. Ferber, museum director emerita and senior art historian at the
New-York Historical Society, with Nancy K. Anderson, curator and head of the department of
American and British paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION
The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Made possible through support
from the Terra Foundation for American Art. Major support provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Additional funding is provided by The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts.

EXHIBITION CATALOG

Fully illustrated 300-page exhibition catalog is published by Yale University Press.
It includes revealing and wide-ranging essays by Linda S. Ferber, Tim Barringer, Barbara Dayer Gallati, Sophie Lynford, Mark D. Mitchell, Janice Simon, and Diane Waggoner.

Featuring the work of artists such as Fidelia Bridges, Henry and Thomas Charles Farrer, John William Hill, John Henry Hill, Charles Herbert Moore, Henry Roderick Newman, Robert J. Pattison, William Trost Richards, William J. Stillman, and John Ruskin, this generously illustrated volume explores the influence of Ruskin on the American artists, the role of watercolor and photography in their work, symbolism and veiled references to the Civil War, and much more.
The catalog is available for purchase in the West Building and East Building Shops; shop.nga.gov; (800) 697-9350 (phone); (202) 789-3047 (fax); or [email protected].

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