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19th-century United States

Works made in the United States in the 19th century.

198 works · hang 7528 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. Peaceable Kingdom, by Edward Hicks, ca. 1830–32
    Peaceable KingdomEdward Hicks, ca. 1830–32Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Major Thomas Biddle, by Thomas Wilcocks Sully, 1832
    Major Thomas BiddleThomas Wilcocks Sully, 1832Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman stands close to us with a red schoolhouse in the distance under a sunset sky in this vertical painting. The woman’s body faces us, but she turns her head to look off to the left with light brown eyes. She has a short, straight nose, full pink lips, and a round face. Her blond hair is pulled up under a round white hat layered with ruffles, which lies like a pancake over the top of her head. Her white dress is vertically striped with thin rust-red lines and has a long-sleeved, tight-fitting bodice and a long skirt. A dark gray belt is cinched around her narrow waist, and she wears a black, lacy ruffle around her neck. The woman’s arms hang by her sides, and she holds two paperback-sized books in her left hand, to our right. An earth-brown lawn stretches back to the schoolhouse, which has crimson-red walls, a chimney, and a dark gray roof. Three forms painted with a few streaks of dark or light gray or topaz blue suggest people standing near the door of the schoolhouse. Trees and a grassy lawn beyond the building are loosely painted with blended strokes. The sky is shaded pale lemon yellow and light peach with touches of rose pink. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner, “HOMER 1873.”
    The Red School HouseWinslow Homer, 1873Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Nocturne (Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea), by James McNeill Whistler, 1878
    Nocturne (Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea)James McNeill Whistler, 1878Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 1, south wall

  1. The image features a large building with a domed tower on the right side. The horizon shows hills, trees, and the sky. The brushstrokes give detailed texture to the scene, with a focus on the landscape and architecture. The color palette is sepia-toned. A tree, fence, smaller buildings, and a figure on a path add depth and perspective to the scene.
    Mission Santa Barbara, Looking SouthHenry Chapman Ford, 1888Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A young man with a peachy, ruddy complexion lies on his stomach in a wooden rowboat on a river, reaching forward to grasp the horn of a stag almost completely submerged in the rippling water with one hand. On the opposite riverbank, gold, rust, and scarlet-red trees span the width of this horizontal painting. The boy’s arms straddle the stern of the boat so one holds the antler with his right hand, closer to us, while the other clutches a rope with a loop at the end. He turns his face, mouth agape and cheeks flushed, over his right shoulder to look to our left, at a dog swimming toward the boat. The dog has white and caramel-brown markings, with dark brown ears. The boy wears earth-brown clothing and the front of his wide-brimmed hat is pushed up to reveal dark eyes and sable-brown bangs and brows. The stag and dog are between us and the boat, and are surrounded by thick brushstrokes of parchment white to create ripples in the forest-green water. Only the open muzzle, part of the eye, and the tips of the stag’s antlers are above the water’s surface. To our right, a bare, fallen tree lies along the far riverbank parallel to the boat. The boat and water fill the lower half of the scene and the autumn trees fill the upper half. The artist has signed and dated the painting in the lower right, “Winslow Homer 1892.”
    Hound and HunterWinslow Homer, 1892Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The Dancing Lesson, by Thomas Eakins, 1878
    The Dancing LessonThomas Eakins, 1878Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. STUDY OF DRAPERY
    Study of DraperyFrancis Augustus Lathrop, ca. 1895Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Section 2, south wall

  1. Autumn Oaks, by George Inness, ca. 1878
    Autumn OaksGeorge Inness, ca. 1878Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The Pilgrim of the Cross at the End of His Journey (study for series, The Cross and the World), by Thomas Cole, ca. 1846-1848
    The Pilgrim of the Cross at the End of His Journey (study for series, The Cross and the World)Thomas Cole, ca. 1846-1848Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Across a short stretch of sand in front of us, waves of bottle-green water break over two boulders on the shoreline, with sailboats in the water beyond, in this wide, horizontal painting. One boulder is at the left edge of the painting; the other is a short distance away, about a quarter of the way across. The water cascades down between those large rocks. Across the rest of the beach, the waves flare up to break toward us in white, foamy surf. The land curves back into view on both sides of the canvas with muted, sage-green hills and, to our left, dark green trees on more craggy boulders. A more distant finger of land to our left stretches nearly halfway across the horizon, which comes about halfway up the composition. Minuscule in scale there, smoke pours out of a chimney, which is surrounded by pale yellow buildings. A mound emerges from the horizon to our right of center. About ten sailboats float on the water. The closest one to us is near the center of the painting, and the tiny forms of people aboard can just barely be made out. The other boats become smaller as they move back to the horizon, and some are only a touch of white or gray on the canvas. White and pale lavender-purple clouds sweep up from the horizon into the sky, which glows butter yellow along the left edge. The sky cools to mint green in the upper right corner. Several white or brown birds fly across the sky or low over the water. The artist signed and dated the lower left, “M. J. Heade 1864.”
    Rio de Janeiro BayMartin Johnson Heade, 1864Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. OTTER CLIFFS
    Otter CliffsArnold William Brunner, 1879–80Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Section 2, north wall

  1. The New Bonnet, by Francis William Edmonds, 1858
    The New BonnetFrancis William Edmonds, 1858Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The Belated Party on Mansfield Mountain, by Jerome B. Thompson, 1858
    The Belated Party on Mansfield MountainJerome B. Thompson, 1858Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. Portrait of Dora Wheeler, by William Merritt Chase, 1882–83
    Portrait of Dora WheelerWilliam Merritt Chase, 1882–83Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. The image shows a street scene from an elevated viewpoint. A horse-drawn carriage is seen moving on a wet road, reflecting light. Pedestrians with umbrellas populate the avenue. The road is visibly marked with rainwater. The skyline displays detailed architectural features like church spires and towers. The painting is done in fine, linear brushstrokes highlighting movement and atmosphere. The grayscale palette emphasizes the rainy urban setting. Wisps of steam or smoke are visible. The intricate line work and shading depict a textured, busy street under an overcast sky.
    Rainy Day, BostonChilde Hassam, 1886Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington