Valley of the Brandywine
Artist
William Trost Richards
(American, 1833-1905)
Date19th century
MediumWatercolor on paper
DimensionsOverall: 4 x 7 in. (10.2 x 17.8 cm)
ClassificationsAmerican art
Credit LineGift of Edith Ballinger Price
Object number94.24.89
Terms
- Green
- Brown
- Blue
- White
On View
Not on viewLabel TextWilliam Trost Richards American (1833-1905) Valley of the Brandywine Watercolor on paper Gift of Edith Ballinger Price 94.24.89 These drawings, watercolors, and oil sketches are among more than one hundred works by William Trost Richards in the Chrysler Museum of Art, a collection that encapsulates a long, prolific career. Most of them were given to the Museum in 1994 by one of the artist's granddaughters, Edith Ballinger Price. She recalled his tireless sketching during his final years in Newport, Rhode Island: In the evening as we all sat beside the round table in the library… he would scribble little compositions, a rock, thunder-clouds, an island in the distance, a clump of trees. I think he saw pictures constantly, snatches of remembered configurations of rock and sea and shore. Richards devoted his entire career to landscape, usually painting familiar locales such as the northeastern forests, farmland in Pennsylvania, and the rocky coast of Rhode Island. His landscapes are usually without figures, but a human presence is often indicated by grazing cattle or a distant sail. He often exhibited in London and Paris, where he won a bronze medal at the 1889 World's Fair. He also frequented popular coastal resort cities in Europe and the northeastern United States, where he sketched some of the small seascapes in the Chrysler's collection. William Trost Richards often sent miniature versions of proposed oil paintings to his most important patrons. He playfully called these detailed watercolors "coupons" (after the bond coupons investors redeemed for cash). On the reverse of Valley of the Brandywine, Delaware the artist noted the proposed painting's finished dimensions and price: 23 x 37 inches, $650 with frame. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 08/2005 Approved By: MHM Approval Date: 10/06/2005
