拍品專文
RELATED LITERATURE
Linda S. Ferber, William Trost Richards: American Landscape & Marine Painter, 1833-1905, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, 1973, p. 28
From about 1864 until 1867 William Trost Richards executed a series of monumental charcoal drawings of woodland interiors, of which Landscape with Cattle by a Stream is the largest known. The work reflects prevailing aesthetic concerns voiced by contemporary critics about an artist's commitment to truth to nature. In 1877 George William Sheldon mentioned Richards in The Art Journal, writing, "His drawing is never at fault, and the crispness of his touch is charming." (George William Sheldon, "American Painters: William Trost Richards," The Art Journal, new series, vol. 3, 1877, p.244). With its finely wrought details and careful botanical accuracy, Richards' Landscape with Cattle by a Stream is a consummate example of American Pre-Raphaelite draughtsmanship.
Several of the monumental drawings from this series relate closely to oil paintings. For example, the charcoal drawing In the Woods (Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, New York) is nearly identical to the oil painting June Woods (Robert L. Stuart Collection, on permanent loan to the New-York Historical Society, New York). Linda S. Ferber has suggested that Richards may have used these drawings as initial studies that were then transferred to canvases. He may also have used them as finished works to show potential clients. Thus Richards' patron could approve a full-sized rendering of a composition before the artist had expended great effort in finishing the work in oil.
Linda S. Ferber, William Trost Richards: American Landscape & Marine Painter, 1833-1905, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, 1973, p. 28
From about 1864 until 1867 William Trost Richards executed a series of monumental charcoal drawings of woodland interiors, of which Landscape with Cattle by a Stream is the largest known. The work reflects prevailing aesthetic concerns voiced by contemporary critics about an artist's commitment to truth to nature. In 1877 George William Sheldon mentioned Richards in The Art Journal, writing, "His drawing is never at fault, and the crispness of his touch is charming." (George William Sheldon, "American Painters: William Trost Richards," The Art Journal, new series, vol. 3, 1877, p.244). With its finely wrought details and careful botanical accuracy, Richards' Landscape with Cattle by a Stream is a consummate example of American Pre-Raphaelite draughtsmanship.
Several of the monumental drawings from this series relate closely to oil paintings. For example, the charcoal drawing In the Woods (Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, New York) is nearly identical to the oil painting June Woods (Robert L. Stuart Collection, on permanent loan to the New-York Historical Society, New York). Linda S. Ferber has suggested that Richards may have used these drawings as initial studies that were then transferred to canvases. He may also have used them as finished works to show potential clients. Thus Richards' patron could approve a full-sized rendering of a composition before the artist had expended great effort in finishing the work in oil.