Floor plan

Style galleriesAntebellum America

Antebellum America

EAGLE LAKE, MT. DESERT
Landscape, by Jasper F. Cropsey, before 1918
SOLDIER WITH SWORD AND PIPE
The Power of Music, by William Sidney Mount, 1847
Major Thomas Biddle, by Thomas Wilcocks Sully, 1832
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.”
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.

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. EAGLE LAKE, MT. DESERT
    Eagle Lake, Mt. DesertDaniel Huntington, August 23, 1856Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. Landscape, by Jasper F. Cropsey, before 1918
    LandscapeJasper F. Cropsey, before 1918Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. SOLDIER WITH SWORD AND PIPE
    Soldier with Sword and PipeWinslow Homer, 1862Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  4. The Power of Music, by William Sidney Mount, 1847
    The Power of MusicWilliam Sidney Mount, 1847Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. Major Thomas Biddle, by Thomas Wilcocks Sully, 1832
    Major Thomas BiddleThomas Wilcocks Sully, 1832Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. 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
  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, south 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 child standing upright, facing forward. They have fair skin, rounded cheeks, short reddish-brown hair, and are wearing a white dress with lace details and a pink ribbon, white pants with lace trim, blue shoes, a red necklace and a heart-shaped pendant. They hold a light pink rose in their left hand and a small black drawstring purse with red accents in their right hand. The background is a gradient from dark green to light green, with a floral-patterned carpet in black, brown, and red on the floor.
    Girl with Reticule and RoseJoseph Whiting Stock, c. 1840Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. STUDY OF FOLIAGE
    Study of foliageWilliam Trost Richards, October 25, 1862Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  4. THE ARTIST'S WIFE SOPHIE
    The Artist's Wife SophieDaniel Huntington, 1853Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Second room, north wall

  1. STUDY FOR "SCIENTIFIC GROUP"
    Study for "Scientific Group"Daniel Huntington, 1858Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. 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
  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

Third room, north wall

  1. 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
  2. White Mare, by Winslow Homer, c. 1868
    White MareWinslow Homer, c. 1868Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art