View of the Natural Bridge, Virginia
Artist
Jacob Caleb Ward
(American, 1809 - 1891)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1835
MediumOil on wood panel
Dimensionsunframed: 23 1/2 × 32 1/8 in. (59.7 × 81.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 31 5/8 × 39 3/4 × 2 7/8 in. (80.3 × 101 × 7.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 31 5/8 × 39 3/4 × 2 7/8 in. (80.3 × 101 × 7.3 cm)
InscribedOn verso: "View of the Natural Bridge, Va."
Credit LineGift of the Norfolk Society of Arts in commemoration of its 100th anniversary and Museum purchase, 2017
Object number2017.11
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 211
Label TextJacob Caleb Ward American, 1809–1891 View of Natural Bridge, Virginia, ca. 1835 Oil on wood panel With cows in the foreground, painter Jacob Ward celebrates Natural Bridge as a portal between civilization and wilderness, connecting Virginia’s orderly agrarian society to the dangers and riches of the frontier. Residents of the American South also heralded this remarkable rock formation as their region’s rival to the powerful beauty of Niagara Falls in New York and the majestic scale of the Swiss Alps. Thomas Jefferson called it “the most sublime of Nature’s works,” and in 1774 he purchased the land to ensure that this example of divine architectural genius could inspire future generations of tourists and artists. Gift of the Norfolk Society of Arts in commemoration of its 100th anniversary and Museum Purchase, 2017 2017.11 ProvenanceUnknown estate, New Jersey; consigned to an antiques dealer, New Hampshire; purchased by John A. Cuthbert, 2008; Charleston Renaissance Galleries, Charleston, SC; Chrysler Museum of Art, 2017.Exhibition HistoryPermanant Collection - American Art, Chrysler Museum of Art, g. 209, August 2020-present Permanant Collection - American Art, Chrysler Museum of Art, g. 211, Feb 2020-July 2020 "Thomas Jefferson Architect: Palladian Models, Democratic Principles, and the Conflict of Ideals," Chrysler Museum of Art, October 19, 2019 - January 19, 2020. Permanant Collection - American Art , Chrysler Museum of Art, g. 211, June 2017 - July 2019. “Virginia Arcadia: The Natural Bridge in American Art," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, February 6 - August 1, 2021.Published ReferencesEdited by Lloyd DeWitt and Corey Piper, with essays by Howard Burns et al, "Thomas Jefferson Architect: Palladian Models, Democratic Principles, and the Conflict of Ideals," exh cat. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2019. pp.8, plate 13, pp. 156.
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