United States Military Academy, Looking South

1828

John Hill, after George Catlin

Associated Names
John Hill

Artist, American, born England, 1770 - 1850

George Catlin

Artist After, American, 1796 - 1872

The image shows a military academy with large buildings and rolling hills. The horizon is near the upper third of the image, with the natural landscape rising just above the rooftops. In the distance, there are troops in formation near cannons under a sky with soft clouds. The brushstrokes are precise, creating a formal illustration style. In the foreground on the right, people in period attire gather near a white obelisk surrounded by an iron fence. An American flag flutters near the center. The ground shows textures of earth and grass, with figures reclining on the grass. The color palette consists of earth tones, green, beige, and muted blues.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    hand-colored engraving and aquatint on wove paper mounted to paperboard

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Mary E. Maxwell Fund)

  • Dimensions

    image: 30.16 × 46.99 cm (11 7/8 × 18 1/2 in.)
    sheet (trimmed): 32.39 × 47.15 cm (12 3/4 × 18 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.861

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Koke 1961, no. 131, i/ii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Stanley S. Wohl, Annapolis, Maryland; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1955; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1956

  • Alexander Hamilton Bicentennial, Treasury Building, Washington, DC, 1956-1957

1963

  • Progress of An American Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1963

Bibliography

1961

  • Koke, Richard J. A Checklist of the American Engravings of John Hill (1770-1850), Master of Aquatint: Together with a List of Prints Colored by Him and a List of His Extant Original Drawings. New York: New York Historical Society, 1961, pp. 56-57, no. 131, i/ii.

Inscriptions

lower left verso in graphite by unknown hand: a78996 [twice]
text at bottom in plate:
Drawn by G. Catlin / Engraved, Printed, & Colored, by J. Hill. / To the Cadets of the West Point Military Academy, this print is respectfully dedicated, [the rest of text was trimmed]

Wikidata ID

Q77011969

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