Floor plan

Style galleriesAntebellum America

Antebellum America

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.
Landscape, by Jasper F. Cropsey, before 1918
Portrait of a Young Girl with Rose, by Oliver Tarbell Eddy, ca. 1838
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.
The painting features a scene showing men in a boat landing on a shore. The horizon is low, with larger sailing ships seen in the distance on the right, floating on the dark green water. The central boat has around eight men in it, all with tan skin and dark hair, dressed in bright garments in shades of red, blue, and gold. Many of them wear plumed helmets and have jewelry or badges adorning them. The boat is heading towards land on the left, and one man stands at the front of the boat, holding a white flag. The land on the left is green, with tall palm trees and a rocky gray mountain. People with dark skin can be seen in on the land in the distance, some climbing the mountain and others standing beneath trees. The sky is a gradient from pinkish-orange near the horizon to light blue at the top of the painting, with a few faint gray clouds.
This painting shows a maritime landscape with an expansive view of the ocean and sky. The horizon is positioned in the lower third of the composition, meeting a clear sky with soft, diffused clouds. Two ships appear to be engaged in a conflict on the green, wave-filled water. One large sailing ship with fully extended sails is near the bottom right corner of the painting. It has two tall masts and multiple white sails, and it flies the flag of the U.S.A in several places. The body of this ship is gray with a wide white stripe, and cannons stick out of small holes across the ship. Small people climb on ropes up into the sails, which are covered in small white and gray dots, perhaps indicating holes. Another ship is visible in the distance on the left side of the painting, and its cannons appear to be firing, with bursts of yellow flame and smoke drifting across the water. This ship flies several flags in shades of red, blue, and white. In the background, the faint gray silhouettes of other ships can be seen across the water. The ocean is depicted with smooth brushstrokes in shades of green and white, and the wide sky is a gradient, with light blue at the top and pale yellow towards the horizon. Faint white clouds drift in the top left corner of the painting.
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 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. 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. Landscape, by Jasper F. Cropsey, before 1918
    LandscapeJasper F. Cropsey, before 1918Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Portrait of a Young Girl with Rose, by Oliver Tarbell Eddy, ca. 1838
    Portrait of a Young Girl with RoseOliver Tarbell Eddy, ca. 1838Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  4. 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

First room, south wall

  1. The painting features a scene showing men in a boat landing on a shore. The horizon is low, with larger sailing ships seen in the distance on the right, floating on the dark green water. The central boat has around eight men in it, all with tan skin and dark hair, dressed in bright garments in shades of red, blue, and gold. Many of them wear plumed helmets and have jewelry or badges adorning them. The boat is heading towards land on the left, and one man stands at the front of the boat, holding a white flag. The land on the left is green, with tall palm trees and a rocky gray mountain. People with dark skin can be seen in on the land in the distance, some climbing the mountain and others standing beneath trees. The sky is a gradient from pinkish-orange near the horizon to light blue at the top of the painting, with a few faint gray clouds.
    The Landing of ColumbusEdward Hicks, c. 1837Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. This painting shows a maritime landscape with an expansive view of the ocean and sky. The horizon is positioned in the lower third of the composition, meeting a clear sky with soft, diffused clouds. Two ships appear to be engaged in a conflict on the green, wave-filled water. One large sailing ship with fully extended sails is near the bottom right corner of the painting. It has two tall masts and multiple white sails, and it flies the flag of the U.S.A in several places. The body of this ship is gray with a wide white stripe, and cannons stick out of small holes across the ship. Small people climb on ropes up into the sails, which are covered in small white and gray dots, perhaps indicating holes. Another ship is visible in the distance on the left side of the painting, and its cannons appear to be firing, with bursts of yellow flame and smoke drifting across the water. This ship flies several flags in shades of red, blue, and white. In the background, the faint gray silhouettes of other ships can be seen across the water. The ocean is depicted with smooth brushstrokes in shades of green and white, and the wide sky is a gradient, with light blue at the top and pale yellow towards the horizon. Faint white clouds drift in the top left corner of the painting.
    The United States Frigate "President" Engaging the British Squadron, 1815Fitz Henry Lane, 1850Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. 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

Second room, south wall

  1. STUDY FOR "SCIENTIFIC GROUP"
    Study for "Scientific Group"Daniel Huntington, 1858Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. STUDY OF SEASCAPE. PORCUPINE ISLANDS, BAR HARBOR, ME
    Study of seascape. Porcupine Islands, Bar Harbor, MEWilliam Stanley Haseltine, 1859Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. THE ARTIST'S WIFE SOPHIE
    The Artist's Wife SophieDaniel Huntington, 1853Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Second room, north 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. Mrs. Goss (The Woman in Fur), by Caroline L. Ransom, c. 1850s
    Mrs. Goss (The Woman in Fur)Caroline L. Ransom, c. 1850sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. 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

Third 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. Trees along Stream in Fall, by William Trost Richards, 1861
    Trees along Stream in FallWilliam Trost Richards, 1861Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. STUDY OF FOLIAGE
    Study of foliageWilliam Trost Richards, October 25, 1862Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum