Floor plan

Style galleriesThe American Gilded Age

The American Gilded Age

Cartoon for mural of Minnesota State Capital, "Institute of Justice", by Kenyon Cox, ca. 1904
Checker Players, by Thomas Anshutz, ca. 1895
Louis Eilshemius
Repose, by John White Alexander, 1895
Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club, by Theodore Robinson, 1894
Diving Cormorant, by Otto H. Bacher, 1900

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Painting and design in the United States from the Civil War to 1910.

First room, north wall

  1. Cartoon for mural of Minnesota State Capital, "Institute of Justice", by Kenyon Cox, ca. 1904
    Cartoon for mural of Minnesota State Capital, "Institute of Justice"Kenyon Cox, ca. 1904Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Checker Players, by Thomas Anshutz, ca. 1895
    Checker PlayersThomas Anshutz, ca. 1895Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. Louis Eilshemius
    Samoan SceneLouis M. Eilshemius, 1908Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution

First room, south wall

  1. Repose, by John White Alexander, 1895
    ReposeJohn White Alexander, 1895Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club, by Theodore Robinson, 1894
    Low Tide, Riverside Yacht ClubTheodore Robinson, 1894Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Diving Cormorant, by Otto H. Bacher, 1900
    Diving CormorantOtto H. Bacher, 1900Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Leaping Trout, by Winslow Homer, 1889
    Leaping TroutWinslow Homer, 1889Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. We Both Must Fade (Mrs. Fithian), by Lilly Martin Spencer, 1869
    We Both Must Fade (Mrs. Fithian)Lilly Martin Spencer, 1869Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. VIEW OF VENICE, ITALY
    View of Venice, ItalyRobert Frederick Blum, 1880Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Second room, north wall

  1. From under an elevated train track, we look at a cluster of people hammering and working on the far side of a wooden fence, all against a silvery-blue building that fills most of the background in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted mostly in tones of hazy and saturated blues, so many of the details are indistinct. About a quarter of the way in from the right edge of the composition, a thin iron column holds up the train platform. The column nearly spans the height of the painting, and the track it supports runs across the top edge of the canvas. At the foot of the column, along the bottom edge, are two parallel tracks embedded in an area otherwise painted with short, diagonal strokes in topaz blue, olive green, and straw yellow. Just beyond the tracks, the split-rail wooden fence runs across most of the painting, though there is an opening at the left edge of the canvas. A man sits with his back to us on the railing to our right of center. He wears a dark cap, a lapis-blue shirt, and navy-blue pants. Several men work on or near a mound-shaped form, perhaps a piece of machinery, just beyond the fence, near the center of the painting. One man holds a hammer high overhead while another reaches down or strikes the mound with his feet planted wide. More people work together to our left, and a man to our right stands near a crane. The people and these areas are painted with broad strokes and touches of cobalt blue, charcoal gray, khaki brown, and a few swipes of shell pink and bright white. A puff of white smoke billows up behind the central group, before the land drops precipitously away. The chasm is painted with shimmering tones of aquamarine and cerulean blue. A sky-blue, rectangular building perches at the far edge. A few windows are outlined in royal blue to our left but the rest of the building is loosely painted with long, vertical strokes so no architectural details can be made out. Behind this structure are more city buildings, suggested with strokes of muted rust red, parchment and bright white, and cobalt blue. The ice-blue sky fills the band between the top of the buildings and the train track running overhead. The artist signed his name near the lower left corner, “BELLOWS.”
    Blue MorningGeorge Bellows, 1909Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. BALCONY
    BalconyRobert Frederick Blum, 1880Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. LOCUST BLOSSOMS
    Locust BlossomsSamuel Colman, June 6, 1877Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  4. The painting depicts a rural landscape at sunset or sunrise. The horizon is slightly above the center, showing distant pale-pink and purple mountains against the sky. Closest to us is an area with dark green bushes and vegetation, leading to a lighter green field surrounded by green-and-brown trees. The palette is warm and earthy, with greens and browns in the bottom transitioning to purples and pinks in the distance. The sky is a pale-yellow color that fades into light blue towards the top left corner, and faint yellow and gray clouds drift across it.
    Peaceful ValleyAlexander Helwig Wyant, c. 1872Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Third room, north wall

  1. Alvan Clark, 1870s
    Alvan ClarkUnrecorded American maker, 1870sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Portrait of Dora Wheeler, by William Merritt Chase, 1882–83
    Portrait of Dora WheelerWilliam Merritt Chase, 1882–83Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. IN CLOISTER OF CATHEDREAL, LE PUY
    In Cloister of Cathedreal, Le PuyArnold William Brunner, 1883Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum