# Newburyport Meadows

**Martin Johnson Heade** (1819–1904)  
ca. 1876–81  
Oil on canvas  
10 1/2 x 22 in. (26.7 x 55.9 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985.117. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11053).

## About this work

Haystacks dot the flat salt marshes near Newburyport, Massachusetts, beneath a broad sky. Martin Johnson Heade painted the marshes of the northeastern coast more than a hundred times, fascinated by the way light and weather transformed their level horizons from hour to hour. These quiet, horizontal compositions, with their patient attention to atmosphere, are among the most distinctive American landscapes of the nineteenth century.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Martin Johnson Heade painted this in about 1876–81, aged about 54. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Martin Johnson Heade](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/martin-johnson-heade)

1819–1904

Heade travelled restlessly and worked in many genres, but is best known for three subjects: the salt marshes of New England and New Jersey, with haystacks under changing skies; hummingbirds and orchids, which he studied on journeys to Brazil and Central America; and, in later years, lush still lifes of magnolias and other flowers, painted after he settled in St Augustine, Florida. Approaching Thunder Storm is an early example of his brooding coastal scenes.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: American
- The artist was about 54
- Real size: about 11 × 22 in (27 × 56 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Realism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/realism)
- Subjects: Landscapes, Haystacks
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/828.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/828/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/newburyport-meadows-met-11053).