Dover Plains
This idyllic upstate New York landscape reproduces a painting by the leading Hudson River School painter Durand. The latter's "Dover Plains, Dutchess County, New York" (1848: Smithsonian American Art Museum) represents figures climbing onto a rocky outcrop to admire the view. Cows graze at right, fields cover the valley below, and an expansive mountain-backed vista is seen in the distance. The print was published by the American Art-Union, a New York institution that boasted nearly nineteen thousand subscribers at its height in 1849-50. For an annual fee of five dollars, each member received a large, finely engraved, print and was entered in a lottery to win original artworks which were exhibited at the Art-Union's Free Gallery. Aimed at educating the public about contemporary American art, the group's distribution network reached members in every state. This contributed to the creation of a national market for landscapes and genre paintings. The system flourished for a limited period, however, with no lottery taking place in 1851, the year that the Art-Union issued this work as part of a set of small engravings titled "Gallery of American Art, No. I."
Artwork Details
- Title: Dover Plains
- Series/Portfolio: Gallery of American Art, No. I
- Engraver: James Smillie (American, Edinburgh 1807–1885 Poughkeepsie, New York)
- Artist: After Asher Brown Durand (American, Jefferson, New Jersey 1796–1886 Maplewood, New Jersey)
- Publisher: American Art-Union, New York (1838–51)
- Date: 1851
- Medium: Etching and engraving on steel
- Dimensions: image: 6 7/8 x 10 3/8 in. (17.5 x 26.4 cm)
plate: 10 15/16 x 14 5/8 in. (27.8 x 37.2 cm)
sheet: 14 7/16 x 18 7/16 in. (36.6 x 46.9 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1983
- Object Number: 1993.1083(4)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.