Floor plan

Style galleriesAntebellum America

Antebellum America

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.”
This painting shows a pastoral setting with a large white-and-gray house on a hill to the left. Distant people stand in front of the house, along with a horse-drawn wagon. In the bottom right corner, two people sit in the grass under a tree, one dressed in red holding a tall crook and the other wearing a black garment and a yellow hat and petting a large brown-and-white dog. There is a basket on the ground between them, and next to them is a large herd of cows and sheep, all resting on the grass. The landscape includes trees with green leaves and yellow hills in the distance. The sky above is in pastel shades of pink and blue, with fluffy clouds. In the bottom left, a patch of yellow ground has several lines of text written over it.
THE ARTIST'S WIFE SOPHIE
We look across and down into a valley with a person sitting near a tall tree and a train puffing smoke beyond, all enclosed by a band of mountains in the distance in this horizontal landscape painting. Closest to us, several broken, jagged tree stumps are spaced across the painting’s width. A little distance away and to our left, the person wears a yellow, broad-brimmed hat, red vest, and gray pants. He reclines propped on his left elbow near a walking path beside a tall, slender tree with golden leaves. The green meadow stretching in front of him is dotted with tree stumps cut close to the ground. Beyond the meadow, puffs of white smoke trail behind a long steam locomotive that crosses a bridge spanning a tree-filled ravine, headed to our left. The ravine creates a diagonal line across the canvas, moving subtly away from us to our left. The train has climbed out of the valley, away from a cluster of brick-red buildings. The most prominent structure is a train roundhouse, a large building with a high, domed roof to the right of the tracks. Smoke rises from chimneys on long, warehouse-like buildings, and a steeple and smaller structures suggest a church and homes to our left. Hazy in the distance, a row of mountains lines the horizon, which comes about halfway up the composition. The sky above deepens from pale, shell pink over the mountains to watery, pale blue above. The artist signed the work in tiny letters in the lower left corner: “G. Inness.”
This is a drawing of various sketches related to woodcutting or carpentry. The drawing features several pencil sketches on tan paper. On the left side, there are depictions of a barrel or basket, and beneath it, several outline sketches of figures engaged in activities involving woodwork. The right side of the drawing shows a figure bent over a large beam or branch. The sketches are simple, with minimal detail, capturing the basic form and movement of the figures and objects involved in woodwork-related activities.
A pale-skinned child wearing a short-sleeved red dress and a white bonnet stands before a shadowy green forest under dark clouds in this vertical portrait painting. The child’s over-large head is out of scale with the rest of her body. She looks toward us with brown eyes in her wide, round-jawed face. She has a broad nose, and her pale lips are set in a line. Her lace bonnet lines her black hair like frothy seafoam and is tied with spring-green bows at the top and under her right ear, to our left. The low neckline of her crimson dress is lined with a wide white ruffle. Red fabric covers her hands, which are gathered in front of her waist. Gray clouds sweep over the hazy green forest in the background. A gnarled tree grows up the left side of the painting, framing the girl.
White Mare, by Winslow Homer, c. 1868

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

American art between the young republic and the Civil War.

First room, north wall

  1. 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
  2. This painting shows a pastoral setting with a large white-and-gray house on a hill to the left. Distant people stand in front of the house, along with a horse-drawn wagon. In the bottom right corner, two people sit in the grass under a tree, one dressed in red holding a tall crook and the other wearing a black garment and a yellow hat and petting a large brown-and-white dog. There is a basket on the ground between them, and next to them is a large herd of cows and sheep, all resting on the grass. The landscape includes trees with green leaves and yellow hills in the distance. The sky above is in pastel shades of pink and blue, with fluffy clouds. In the bottom left, a patch of yellow ground has several lines of text written over it.
    The Grave of William PennEdward Hicks, c. 1847/1848Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. THE ARTIST'S WIFE SOPHIE
    The Artist's Wife SophieDaniel Huntington, 1853Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

First room, south wall

  1. We look across and down into a valley with a person sitting near a tall tree and a train puffing smoke beyond, all enclosed by a band of mountains in the distance in this horizontal landscape painting. Closest to us, several broken, jagged tree stumps are spaced across the painting’s width. A little distance away and to our left, the person wears a yellow, broad-brimmed hat, red vest, and gray pants. He reclines propped on his left elbow near a walking path beside a tall, slender tree with golden leaves. The green meadow stretching in front of him is dotted with tree stumps cut close to the ground. Beyond the meadow, puffs of white smoke trail behind a long steam locomotive that crosses a bridge spanning a tree-filled ravine, headed to our left. The ravine creates a diagonal line across the canvas, moving subtly away from us to our left. The train has climbed out of the valley, away from a cluster of brick-red buildings. The most prominent structure is a train roundhouse, a large building with a high, domed roof to the right of the tracks. Smoke rises from chimneys on long, warehouse-like buildings, and a steeple and smaller structures suggest a church and homes to our left. Hazy in the distance, a row of mountains lines the horizon, which comes about halfway up the composition. The sky above deepens from pale, shell pink over the mountains to watery, pale blue above. The artist signed the work in tiny letters in the lower left corner: “G. Inness.”
    The Lackawanna ValleyGeorge Inness, c. 1856Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. This is a drawing of various sketches related to woodcutting or carpentry. The drawing features several pencil sketches on tan paper. On the left side, there are depictions of a barrel or basket, and beneath it, several outline sketches of figures engaged in activities involving woodwork. The right side of the drawing shows a figure bent over a large beam or branch. The sketches are simple, with minimal detail, capturing the basic form and movement of the figures and objects involved in woodwork-related activities.
    Soldiers felling sapling, and weaving saplings into baskets [verso]Winslow Homer, 1862Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A pale-skinned child wearing a short-sleeved red dress and a white bonnet stands before a shadowy green forest under dark clouds in this vertical portrait painting. The child’s over-large head is out of scale with the rest of her body. She looks toward us with brown eyes in her wide, round-jawed face. She has a broad nose, and her pale lips are set in a line. Her lace bonnet lines her black hair like frothy seafoam and is tied with spring-green bows at the top and under her right ear, to our left. The low neckline of her crimson dress is lined with a wide white ruffle. Red fabric covers her hands, which are gathered in front of her waist. Gray clouds sweep over the hazy green forest in the background. A gnarled tree grows up the left side of the painting, framing the girl.
    Portrait of a ChildEdward Hicks, c. 1840Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. White Mare, by Winslow Homer, c. 1868
    White MareWinslow Homer, c. 1868Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. The image features two young children standing side by side. The child on the left extends one arm sideways and has the other arm lowered, while the child on the right has both arms relaxed by their sides, one holding a string. Both children have round faces with light complexions; the child on the left has dark brown hair styled in waves down to the shoulders, while the child on the right has light brown hair. The child on the left is dressed in a blue dress with a loosely gathered waist and short sleeves, white stockings, white shoes, and a red beaded necklace. The child on the right wears a green dress with similar design features, white stockings, and black shoes. Near their feet are a toy doll in a red cradle and a small toy house. In the background, there is a plain dark wall, a deep red drapery, a carpet with elaborate patterns, and a small wooden table with a box on top.
    Mary and Francis WilcoxJoseph Whiting Stock, 1845Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Self-Portrait, by Oliver Tarbell Eddy, ca. 1850
    Self-PortraitOliver Tarbell Eddy, ca. 1850Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. There are two teapots in the image. The larger teapot has a decorative pattern of red leaves and blue curve on an olive-green background, with a white handle. The smaller teapot has a dark brown glossy finish. The color palette consists of earthy tones like browns, olive green, red, and blue. The larger teapot is positioned slightly to the right, behind the smaller one, which is in the foreground on a reflective green surface. The background has a light beige appearance.
    Asian Tea PotsHenry Farrer, n.d.Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Landscape with Haywain, by Worthington Whittredge, 1861
    Landscape with HaywainWorthington Whittredge, 1861Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. The image is a portrait painting showing a man's upper body. He is positioned slightly turned to his right, with his head facing the viewer. The man has fair skin, defined cheekbones, and small, bright eyes. His hair is short, neatly combed, and grey or white. He is wearing a dark coat over a white shirt with a high collar, partially visible. The background is a muted, dark color, providing a simple setting that emphasizes the subject. There are no visible jewelry or objects in the image.
    Aaron BaldwinFrancis Alexander, c. 1835Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. STUDY OF LANDSCAPE, DELAWARE RIVER
    Study of landscape, Delaware RiverWilliam Stanley Haseltine, ca. 1855Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. Major Thomas Biddle, by Thomas Wilcocks Sully, 1832
    Major Thomas BiddleThomas Wilcocks Sully, 1832Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Third room, north wall

  1. This painting shows a winter landscape with snowy, rural terrain. It includes a large barn, a farmhouse, and some bare trees covered in snow. Some brown cows are fenced in by the barn on the left, and a person walking along a snowy path brings them a bundle of golden hay. The sky is overcast, with dark gray clouds, and the color palette of the painting consists of earth tones with variations of grey and brown among the white snow.
    Winter in the CountryGeorge Henry Durrie, c. 1859Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The image shows a woman portrait from the waist up. She is seated upright, holding a book in her left hand. She has blue eyes, dark brown hair styled with rolls and a braided crown, and wears elegant 19th-century clothing with a lace collar, a blue-gray garment, and gold earrings. The background is plain, and she is seated on a wooden chair.
    Woman Holding a BookErastus Salisbury Field, c. 1835Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington