The Rocky Mountains

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The Rocky Mountains

Artist: Worthington Whittredge (American, 1820 - 1910)

Date: 1875

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

15 1/2 x 25 in. (39.4 x 63.5 cm)

Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Frederic G. Oppenheimer

Object number: 52.106.8

Signed: Signed and dated lower left, "W. Whittredge 1875"

Label Text

Thomas Worthington Whittredge’s life was forever changed by visits to the Western United States in 1866, 1870, and 1871. Although he had been most comfortable painting scenes of New York’s Hudson River Valley and around New England, he avidly responded to what he called the “vastness and silence” of the Western plains. That quality is apparent in this scene painted in the studio from memory, four years after his final trip. Although the snow-covered peaks of the Rockies appear in the far background, the artist concentrates the viewer’s attention on the group of Native Americans who have paused to gather water in the foreground. The deep shadows of the trees falling across the banks of the river, as well as the play of reflections in the water, lend a mesmerizing quality to the painting, creating a sense of quiet absorption.

(William Keyse Rudolph, 2014)

On view

The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.

Artwork

The Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains