The Hillsca. 1919
Preston Dickinson painted The Hills a few years after he returned to New York from France. More about this work
About this work
Preston Dickinson painted The Hills a few years after he returned to New York from France. He admired the work of the French modernist painters, especially Paul Cézanne, who transformed his subjects into simple shapes and planes of color. Dickinson composed this landscape from triangles and curves, and even the clouds reflect the shapes of the hills and buildings. The expressive brushstrokes and vibrant color evoke an energetic, windswept day in the countryside of New York.
Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1965.11.1
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
