Floor plan

Style galleriesAntebellum America

Antebellum America

Mrs. Goss (The Woman in Fur), by Caroline L. Ransom, c. 1850s
THE ARTIST'S WIFE SOPHIE
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.
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.
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.”
EAGLE LAKE, MT. DESERT
The Power of Music, by William Sidney Mount, 1847

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. 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
  2. THE ARTIST'S WIFE SOPHIE
    The Artist's Wife SophieDaniel Huntington, 1853Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  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
  4. 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

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. EAGLE LAKE, MT. DESERT
    Eagle Lake, Mt. DesertDaniel Huntington, August 23, 1856Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. The Power of Music, by William Sidney Mount, 1847
    The Power of MusicWilliam Sidney Mount, 1847Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Landscape, by Jasper F. Cropsey, before 1918
    LandscapeJasper F. Cropsey, before 1918Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. 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
  3. A young woman with pale, peachy skin, wearing a long, flowing white dress, stands in front of a white curtain in this vertical portrait painting. Her auburn-red hair cascades down over and behind her shoulders. She looks to our left with green eyes, and her pink, full lips are closed. Her dress has puffed shoulders above a white-on-white striped pattern on the long sleeves. She stands on an animal pelt; it is not clear whether it is a wolf or a bear. The pelt spans the width of the painting and overlaps a blue patterned carpet. The animal’s mouth gapes to show sharp teeth. Its glassy eyes are wide open, and it seems to look at us. The edges of the animal skin are red. The woman holds a white lily by her side in her left hand, while yellow and purple flowers lie scattered on the pelt.
    Symphony in White, No. 1: The White GirlJames McNeill Whistler, 1861-1863, 1872Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second 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. In this painting, three women are depicted standing and sitting closely together. The women have fair complexions and dark hair in ringlets, and they are smiling slightly. The woman on the left appears to be standing, and her body is turned to the right while her head is turned over her shoulder to face us. She wears a light blue dress with a brown shawl, and she is holding the edge of a red book that rests on a small table in the bottom right corner. The woman in the middle also appears to be standing, and she is wearing a golden-yellow off-the-shoulder garment. One of her hands is on the shoulder of the woman on the left. The woman on the right is seated at the small table, and she wears a pale pink off-the-shoulder dress. She looks directly out at us. The small table is covered in a golden cloth, and on the right is a vase of colorful flowers. The wall behind the woman is a blend of brown, tan, and pale blue tones.
    The Coleman SistersThomas Sully, 1844Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. 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

Third room, north wall

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. Colonel William Leete Stone, by William Page, 1839
    Colonel William Leete StoneWilliam Page, 1839Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art