Talks & Conversations

American Landscapes in Watercolor from the Corcoran Collection

This painting shows a seascape with rugged cliffs rising on the right above the turbulent sea. Waves crash against rocks, sending white foam into the air. The jagged cliff face is in shades of gray and brown, with some pale green at the very top. The swirling sea below is in shades of blue and gray, and the sky above is cloudy, with one hint of blue at the top. On the left, white seagulls fly above the spray.
William Trost Richards, South-West Point, Conanicut, 1878 / 1879, watercolor and gouache on fibrous brown wove paper, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Riggs Parker, honoring their children, 2023.32.1

From New England to the Grand Canyon, travel through American landscapes alongside the artists who mapped and painted them. Join senior lecturer David Gariff for an exploration of works of art from our American Landscapes in Watercolor from the Corcoran Collection exhibition, created between 1800 and 1991. The exhibition is open from August 2, 2025, to February 1, 2026.

This lecture is offered in person and virtually. All registrants will receive a recording after the event.

Sign-language interpreters and guides for visitors who are blind or have low vision are available for programs. Please call (202) 842-6905 or email [email protected] three weeks in advance for an appointment. Learn more about accessibility.

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An armored man on horseback hands a piece of emerald-green cloth down to the nearly nude man standing next to him in this slightly stylized, vertical painting. Both men have light skin, and they, along with the horse, nearly fill the composition. To our right, the bright white horse stands angled to our right with the front left hoof raised. It has a smoke-gray mane, and wears a black bridle. The man riding the horse has short, copper-blond hair and a long face with a pointed chin. He looks down at the ground with dark eyes under black, arched brows. He has a long, thin nose, and his small lips are closed and framed by the faint suggestion of a mustache. He wears a white ruff pleated into figure-eights over his high-necked armor, which is liberally outlined and decorated with gold against the pewter-colored plates. He grips the voluminous, green cape in one hand and holds a sword in the other, down by the leg we can see. The cleanshaven man next to him, to our left, looks off to our right in profile. He has close-cropped, dark hair and smooth skin. His lips are parted, and he tips his head slightly away from us. He holds the green cloth with the hand closer to the horse and gestures down with his other pointer finger, in front of his hip. A white cloth bandage is wrapped around one shin, and he rests his weight on the other leg. The horse and man stand on a curving spit of brown earth. A spring-green landscape dips down behind them, running low near the bottom edge of the painting. The horizon comes about a quarter of the way up the composition, and fog-gray and white clouds create thin screens across the topaz-blue sky. The loose brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the landscape and clothing. The artist signed his name in Greek near the lower right corner.

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