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The Spring

1863
Not on view
This beautifully fashioned composition, possibly based on scenery in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, is part of a group of such works in pencil or charcoal that Richards executed in the early 1860s. Some were made as designs for his paintings of woodland interiors made during the Civil War years, others were done as independent drawings or possibly for display in his studio as advertisements for commissions. In 1863, the year this drawing was made, Richards was elected a member of the Society for the Advancement of Truth in Art, which comprised the American followers of John Ruskin. The exceptional dexterity and tonal range in this drawing presages the remarkable craftsmanship Richards brought to watercolor in the 1870s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Spring
  • Artist: William Trost Richards (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1833–1905 Newport, Rhode Island)
  • Date: 1863
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Graphite on green wove paper
  • Dimensions: 8 3/8 x 6 1/4 in. (21.3 x 15.9 cm)
  • Credit Line: Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1993
  • Object Number: 1993.527
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Puget Sound (from Sketchbook X), William Trost Richards American, Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Puget Sound (from Sketchbook X)
William Trost Richards
1885
Ship Study (from Sketchbook X), William Trost Richards American, Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Ship Study (from Sketchbook X)
William Trost Richards
1885
Wooded Landscape (from Sketchbook VII), William Trost Richards American, Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Wooded Landscape (from Sketchbook VII)
William Trost Richards
1886
Country Road Framed by Trees (from Sketchbook VII), William Trost Richards American, Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Country Road Framed by Trees (from Sketchbook VII)
William Trost Richards
1886
Still Life with Head and Spear (from Sketchbook X), William Trost Richards American, Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Still Life with Head and Spear (from Sketchbook X)
William Trost Richards
1885

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