Artist:
William Trost Richards
(American, 1833 - 1905)
The Valley of the Brandywine, Chester County (September)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1886-1887
Dimensions:
39 3/4 × 55 1/8 in. (101 × 140 cm)
Accession number: 86.10
Label Copy:
Over the course of his career, Philadelphia-born William Trost Richards was an avid traveler in the United States and Europe. Beginning in the mid-1870s and until 1890, he divided his time between Newport, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania—where he first lived in a house in Germantown, followed by Oldmixon Farm in Chester County, which he purchased in 1884. From there he created a series of paintings of Chester County farms, their change of seasons, and the annual harvest, seen here in a composition that juxtaposes the two small farmers with the majestic sweep of landscape in which they toil. Writing of the inspiration provided by the Brandywine Valley, Richards remarked: "Everywhere there are pictures which make me impatient for next summer."
Over the course of his career, Philadelphia-born William Trost Richards was an avid traveler in the United States and Europe. Beginning in the mid-1870s and until 1890, he divided his time between Newport, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania—where he first lived in a house in Germantown, followed by Oldmixon Farm in Chester County, which he purchased in 1884. From there he created a series of paintings of Chester County farms, their change of seasons, and the annual harvest, seen here in a composition that juxtaposes the two small farmers with the majestic sweep of landscape in which they toil. Writing of the inspiration provided by the Brandywine Valley, Richards remarked: "Everywhere there are pictures which make me impatient for next summer."
Curatorial RemarksEarly in his career William Trost Richards visited Europe and studied at the Dusseldorf Academy in Germany, known for its strict training in methods of highly detailed realism. "The Valley of the Brandywine, Chester County" depicts the Chester County Farm purchased by Richards in 1884. Here the artist captures the humid atmosphere of a late summer day.
A major figure in American landscape painting, Richards was influenced by artists of the Hudson River School. Their spiritual view of nature is evidenced here by the presence of changing weather conditions and the seasonal routine of the harvest. Also, man's relationship to nature is reflected by the scale of the two farmers as compared to the landscape.
;Note, back of canvas has not been examined.
Born in Philadelphia, Richards was an important American landscape artist associated with both the Hudson River School and the American Pre-Raphaelite movement. He studied with German-born landscape painter Paul Weber and greatly admired the landscapes of Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church. Before he was 20, Richards exhibited his work at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In the 1860s, Richards came under the influence of the British writer and aesthetician John Ruskin—and heeded his dictum of artistic truth to nature and the sharply focused realism of English Pre-Raphaelite artists. It was in this decade that he began working in watercolor. His enthusiasm for the medium blossomed in the 1870s, when he began to devote his primary attention to marine painting and became a member of the American Watercolor Society in 1874.
Over the course of his career, Richards was an inveterate traveler in America and Europe. Beginning in the mid-1870s and until 1890, he divided his time between Newport, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania—first a house in Germantown followed by Oldmixon Farm in Chester County, which he purchased in 1884. Toward the end of his career, Richards rededicated himself to landscape painting and began making summer trips to the Adirondacks, the site of some of his most important early achievements. He also created a series of paintings of Chester County farms and their change of seasons and annual harvest, seen here in a composition that juxtaposes the two small farmers with the majestic sweep of landscape in which they toil. Such was his view of the Brandywine Valley’s potential as a compelling subject that Richards once wrote, "Everywhere there are pictures which make me impatient for next summer."
A major figure in American landscape painting, Richards was influenced by artists of the Hudson River School. Their spiritual view of nature is evidenced here by the presence of changing weather conditions and the seasonal routine of the harvest. Also, man's relationship to nature is reflected by the scale of the two farmers as compared to the landscape.
;Note, back of canvas has not been examined.
Born in Philadelphia, Richards was an important American landscape artist associated with both the Hudson River School and the American Pre-Raphaelite movement. He studied with German-born landscape painter Paul Weber and greatly admired the landscapes of Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church. Before he was 20, Richards exhibited his work at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In the 1860s, Richards came under the influence of the British writer and aesthetician John Ruskin—and heeded his dictum of artistic truth to nature and the sharply focused realism of English Pre-Raphaelite artists. It was in this decade that he began working in watercolor. His enthusiasm for the medium blossomed in the 1870s, when he began to devote his primary attention to marine painting and became a member of the American Watercolor Society in 1874.
Over the course of his career, Richards was an inveterate traveler in America and Europe. Beginning in the mid-1870s and until 1890, he divided his time between Newport, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania—first a house in Germantown followed by Oldmixon Farm in Chester County, which he purchased in 1884. Toward the end of his career, Richards rededicated himself to landscape painting and began making summer trips to the Adirondacks, the site of some of his most important early achievements. He also created a series of paintings of Chester County farms and their change of seasons and annual harvest, seen here in a composition that juxtaposes the two small farmers with the majestic sweep of landscape in which they toil. Such was his view of the Brandywine Valley’s potential as a compelling subject that Richards once wrote, "Everywhere there are pictures which make me impatient for next summer."
On view