Floor plan

Style galleriesThe American Gilded Age

The American Gilded Age

This painting shows a person seated on a stool or chair, wearing a long, dark-blue robe or gown. They are slightly turned toward the right, looking downward at something they hold in their hands, and their head is covered with a cloth or cap. The background is textured with earthy tones, mostly tan with some patches of yellow ochre and gray.
TWO STUDIES OF WOMEN STANDING BEHIND RAILING, LOOKING AT THE LAUNCHING OF DORIES, CULLERCOATS, ENGLAND
FISHERMEN BEACHING A DORY, CULLERCOATS, ENGLAND
This detailed painting shows two pink roses and a pink bud on a long, thin green stem with green leaves and small green thorns. The tall stem rises near the right edge of the painting, with some thin branches reaching out to either side. The largest rose is positioned near the top left corner of the painting, with the small bud right below it. The other large flower is right around the center of the painting. The background is a flat beige color.
The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse), by Albert Pinkham Ryder, c. 1896–1908
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.
Stag at Sharkey's, by George Bellows, 1909

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. This painting shows a person seated on a stool or chair, wearing a long, dark-blue robe or gown. They are slightly turned toward the right, looking downward at something they hold in their hands, and their head is covered with a cloth or cap. The background is textured with earthy tones, mostly tan with some patches of yellow ochre and gray.
    The ChaperoneThomas Eakins, c. 1908Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. TWO STUDIES OF WOMEN STANDING BEHIND RAILING, LOOKING AT THE LAUNCHING OF DORIES, CULLERCOATS, ENGLAND
    Two Studies of Women Standing behind Railing, Looking at the Launching of Dories, Cullercoats, EnglandWinslow Homer, 1881Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. FISHERMEN BEACHING A DORY, CULLERCOATS, ENGLAND
    Fishermen Beaching a Dory, Cullercoats, EnglandWinslow Homer, 1881Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  4. This detailed painting shows two pink roses and a pink bud on a long, thin green stem with green leaves and small green thorns. The tall stem rises near the right edge of the painting, with some thin branches reaching out to either side. The largest rose is positioned near the top left corner of the painting, with the small bud right below it. The other large flower is right around the center of the painting. The background is a flat beige color.
    Pink RosesFidelia Bridges, 1875Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

First room, south wall

  1. The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse), by Albert Pinkham Ryder, c. 1896–1908
    The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse)Albert Pinkham Ryder, c. 1896–1908Courtesy 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
  3. Stag at Sharkey's, by George Bellows, 1909
    Stag at Sharkey'sGeorge Bellows, 1909Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. A woman with smooth, pale skin and wearing a hat, long dress, and gloves, stands holding a bunch of pumpkin-orange leaves against a background of trees painted with touches of rust orange and pine green in this vertical painting. The woman tips her head back slightly to look at us with dark eyes under arched eyebrows. Her cheeks are flushed and her coral-pink lips closed. Her round black hat perches on the back of her head and she has an inky black, long-sleeved, hip-length jacket with bronze trim at the shoulders, cuffs, and down the front. A gauzy bow is tied at her neck. Her left elbow, on our right, is bent and she holds up her tan-colored, ruffled skirt with a white-gloved hand. The raised skirt exposes sky-blue lining and white, ruffled flounces at her feet. Her right arm, on our left, hangs at her side and holds the handle of a basket. Deep marigold-orange leaves cascade out of the basket. One black shoe peeks out from under her long skirt. She stands on a hill carpeted with crimson-red, tawny-brown, golden yellow, and forest-green leaves. The space behind her is filled with touches and dabs of red, orange, brown, black, and tan.
    AutumnWinslow Homer, 1877Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Christ, by Kenyon Cox, 1905
    ChristKenyon Cox, 1905Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Portrait of Dora Wheeler, by William Merritt Chase, 1882–83
    Portrait of Dora WheelerWilliam Merritt Chase, 1882–83Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. VIEW OF VENICE, ITALY
    View of Venice, ItalyRobert Frederick Blum, 1880Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. STUDY FOR "DIANA AND HER ATTENDANTS AMONG THE CONSTELLATIONS"
    Study for "Diana and Her Attendants among the Constellations"Francis Augustus Lathrop, ca. 1894Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. Thomas Eakins
    Portrait of Mrs. Helen Mac Knight (Portrait of a Mother)Thomas Eakins, (c. 1903)Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution

Third room, north wall

  1. A six-story, narrow building stands alone in an otherwise unoccupied lot under the deck of a high bridge, with a river and cityscape in the background in this horizontal painting. Dozens of people, small in scale, are each painted with a few swipes of black and some with peach-colored faces. They gather at the foot of the building and around a fire to our left, near the lower left corner of the composition. The fire is painted with a dash of orange, a few touches of canary yellow, and a smudge of gray smoke. Several more people stand and sit against the building, which has a streetlamp near its entrance. The back end of the building angles away from us to our right, so we see the narrow, front entrance side to our left. Each of the six floors of the building has two windows with fire escape ladders on the narrow side we can see. Some strokes in red and white on the lower levels of the long, flat side of the building suggest signs or posters. The top story glows a warm sienna brown in sunlight, while the rest of the building and the scene below are in shadow. More people walk along a grayish-violet fence that encloses the lot beyond the building. The ground is painted thickly with slate gray, pale, sage green, and one smear of white to suggest snow. To our right and a short distance from us, a white horse pulls a carriage near the foot of the bridge. The ivory-white, concrete piling rises up and off the right edge of the canvas and supports the deck of the bridge above. Only a sliver of the brick-red underside of the bridge is visible, skimming the top edge of the painting in the upper right corner. Two twiggy, barren trees grow up beyond the muted purple fence, and the landscape beyond is bright in the sunlight. A terracotta-orange building rises along the left edge of the painting, with the area between it and the lot under the bridge filled with thickly painted patches of butter yellow, amethyst purple, and sage green. Beyond that, an ice-blue river flows across the composition. The shore beyond is lined with patches of beige and tan paint that could be buildings. A black tugboat puffs bright white smoke in the river. The sky above is frosty white. The artist signed the work with dark blue in the lower left corner of the painting, “Geo Bellows.”
    The Lone TenementGeorge Bellows, 1909Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club, by Theodore Robinson, 1894
    Low Tide, Riverside Yacht ClubTheodore Robinson, 1894Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  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