Created by
Harper, William A., American, 1873 - 1910
Date
1905
Medium
oil paint on canvas , wood
Dimensions
H x W (unframed): 16 3/8 × 20 1/4 × 1 in. (41.6 × 51.4 × 2.5 cm)
H x W x D (framed): 23 1/16 × 26 15/16 × 1 3/4 in. (58.5 × 68.5 × 4.5 cm)
Caption
William A. Harper, an American Barbizon School painter, was celebrated for his exquisite pastoral landscapes. The inspiration for this quiet, bucolic interpretation of the countryside came from a group of 19th-century French artists known as the Barbizon painters.
Harper began his formal art training in 1895 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Upon graduation in 1901, he accepted a position teaching art in Houston, Texas, eventually saving enough money to travel to Europe and study at the Académie Julian, Paris. Untitled (French Landscape) was painted at this time, most likely during one of his routine visits to the French countryside with his colleagues Charles Francis Brown and William Wendt.
Description
This landscape painting depicts a country vista with small houses on the horizon. The foreground shows an open meadow with grass and a few tall, scattered trees that become two thick groves, one on the right and a smaller one on the left. A break in the trees reveals a hill on the horizon with red-roofed houses scattered across it. Light is slanting across the hilltop, and the sky is blue with wisps of white clouds.
Classification
Visual Arts
Type
oil paintings
Topic
Art
Nature
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2010.51.1ab
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd59033f037-35e6-444d-8b7c-e748acd24afc

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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