Floor plan

Time and placeThe 19th century

The 19th century

Self-Portrait, by Edgar Degas, 1857
The image depicts a landscape with a river flowing through it. In the foreground, there is a small boat on the water, and in the background, sailboats are docked near a strip of land. Tall trees with sparse foliage are on the right side, with a structure nestled among them near the water. The horizon is slightly above the center of the image, with a calm sky above it. The brushstrokes vary in texture, with fine strokes for the sky and water and more detailed strokes for the trees. The color palette is muted, with sepia and gray tones creating a peaceful atmosphere. Birds are scattered in the sky.
A work made of pen and brown ink, with traces of graphite, on tan wove paper, laid down on cream wove paper.
A work made of lithograph in dark green on cream wove paper.
BUTTRESSES ON CITY WALLS; LOCHES
The image shows a scene from a slightly elevated point of view. The horizon is low, highlighting the vast sky above. On the right, there are buildings surrounded by trees. In the center, there is a tall monument with a small structure at its base, slightly to the left. To the right of the monument, a person is standing. The drawing features detailed linework and delicate shading for the sky. The color palette is monochromatic with shades of gray. Rocks and grass in the foreground lead towards the monument and buildings in the distance.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in the 19th century, anywhere in the world.

Section 1, north wall

  1. Self-Portrait, by Edgar Degas, 1857
    Self-PortraitEdgar Degas, 1857Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. The image depicts a landscape with a river flowing through it. In the foreground, there is a small boat on the water, and in the background, sailboats are docked near a strip of land. Tall trees with sparse foliage are on the right side, with a structure nestled among them near the water. The horizon is slightly above the center of the image, with a calm sky above it. The brushstrokes vary in texture, with fine strokes for the sky and water and more detailed strokes for the trees. The color palette is muted, with sepia and gray tones creating a peaceful atmosphere. Birds are scattered in the sky.
    Shrewsbury RiverJohn Hill Millspaugh, 1887Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of pen and brown ink, with traces of graphite, on tan wove paper, laid down on cream wove paper.
    Sketches of Algerian MenEugène Delacroix, c. 1832Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. A work made of lithograph in dark green on cream wove paper.
    Mévisto, from Le Café-ConcertHenri-Gabriel Ibels, 1893Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. BUTTRESSES ON CITY WALLS; LOCHES
    Buttresses on City Walls; LochesArnold William Brunner, 1883Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. The image shows a scene from a slightly elevated point of view. The horizon is low, highlighting the vast sky above. On the right, there are buildings surrounded by trees. In the center, there is a tall monument with a small structure at its base, slightly to the left. To the right of the monument, a person is standing. The drawing features detailed linework and delicate shading for the sky. The color palette is monochromatic with shades of gray. Rocks and grass in the foreground lead towards the monument and buildings in the distance.
    Groton MonumentJ.R. Butts, c. 1830-1840Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 2, south wall

  1. Armies of men march and battle along a rocky outcropping set among huge rock formations and massive buildings under a stormy sky in this horizontal landscape painting. The people we can see all have pale skin. Sheets of rain fall from flint-gray clouds on our left into a valley, though hints of peach brighten the clouds along the mountainous horizon there. In the right half of the sky, light pours down from a brilliant white sun that breaks through white clouds to reveal topaz-blue patches of sky. The horizon comes about halfway up the composition and is lined with rugged white, pale pink, and olive-green mountains on our left and silvery-white buildings along the right half. These structures include two domed buildings and a colosseum among many others. The buildings are all enclosed within city walls buttressed with towers. The land dips precipitously from the rocky cliffs supporting the buildings, to sweep down toward us. A huge outcropping angles up like a ramp between us and the buildings in the distance. A road runs from the walled town toward us, down along the ridge and in front of the outcropping. Countless warriors march in rows of four or five across on the road past a man wearing a feathered helmet and armored breastplate. This man, Joshua, stands on a rocky precipice facing away from us with his right hand raised. He wears a scarlet-red toga under his breastplate, and a royal-blue cape flutters at his left side. He holds a round, copper-colored shield and a spear in his other hand. Two men with gray beards stand near Joshua with their backs to us. Both gesture up to the sky. One holds a slender staff and the other a curling horn. They and another pair of men, who stoop to hold poles used to carry a chest, all wear long, ivory-white robes, cherry-red drapery, and white turbans. The column of soldiers on foot and horseback pass in front of Joshua to a massive battlefield to our left. The fight takes place in a valley that leads back to a river. A bolt of lightning zigzags from the storm clouds and strikes a city in the deep distance. The artist signed the painting in the lower right, “J. Martin.”
    Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon GibeonJohn Martin, 1816Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A leafless, ash-white tree trunk has fallen from a broken stump into the wide V of a neighboring tree at the edge of a body of water near a verdant forest in this horizontal landscape painting. The fallen trunk creates a diagonal from near the lower left corner to the upper right. As it fell, it sheared off a substantial branch from a neighboring tree with a dark trunk. The bark where the damaged branch has pulled away is honey-orange, the same color as the leaves at the canopy, which has been pinned under the fallen trunk. Trees, vines, and other vegetation fill the space around and beyond this pair. In the lower right corner of the painting, vines grow over a broken stump, which deep in shadow. Between the stump and fallen tree, the peanut-brown surface of the water is smooth. Tiny in scale beneath the fallen tree and easily overlooked, there are two men and a dog in a boat. One man stands at the back of the boat and pushes it along with a long pole. He wears a tall, brown, cloth hat, a white shirt rolled up to the elbows under a blue vest, and loose-fitting pants. A second man wears a flat-topped, white hat with a black brim, a long, forest-green jacket, and tight-fitting slate-blue pants. He braces a rifle against one shoulder and shoots into the forest. The dog is white with brown spots, and it stands with its front paws on the edge of the boat, presumably ready to spring after the target. A patch of blue sky with puffy white clouds is seen above the trees in the upper left corner. The artist signed and dated the work in the lower right corner: “H. Vernet Rome 1833.”
    Hunting in the Pontine MarshesHorace Vernet, 1833Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The LaundressPierre-Auguste Renoir, 1877–79Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; surimono.
    A Pine Tree and CamelliasNiwa Tokei, 1840Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. ITALIAN FARMHOUSE
    Italian FarmhouseFrederic Edwin Church, September 1868 - April 1869Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. Robert Edwards Carter, by Sarah C. Frothingham, ca. 1840
    Robert Edwards CarterSarah C. Frothingham, ca. 1840Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Section 3, south wall

  1. Hemlock Pool, by John Henry Twachtman, ca. 1890-1900
    Hemlock PoolJohn Henry Twachtman, ca. 1890-1900Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. A work made of black crayon and charcoal, on ivory laid paper.
    Three GossipsHonoré Daumier, 1865/1867Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 4, south wall

  1. Corridor in the Asylum, by Vincent van Gogh, September 1889
    Corridor in the AsylumVincent van Gogh, September 1889Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of transfer lithograph in black, with stumping and scraping, on cream laid paper, laid down on a heavy backing sheet.
    La Belle JardinièreJames McNeill Whistler, 1894Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago