The Placid Potomacn.d.
William Henry Holmes painted this (n.d.) It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
William Henry Holmes painted this (n.d.). It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Watercolour
- Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
William Henry Holmes
born Cadiz, OH 1846-died Royal Oak, MI 1933
Holmes trained as an artist and began as a scientific illustrator at the Smithsonian, then joined the Hayden Survey of the American West; his panoramic geological drawings, of Yellowstone and later the Grand Canyon, set a standard for accuracy. He became an archaeologist and anthropologist, heading the Bureau of American Ethnology, and later directed the National Gallery of Art, now the Smithsonian American Art Museum, while continuing to paint watercolours.
Written by Ochre Editions.
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
- 1953.11.3
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Graphic Arts
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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