The Trotter

c. 1860

Charles S. Humphreys

Associated Names
Charles S. Humphreys
Painter, American, 1818 - 1880
The artwork depicts a man riding a horse-drawn sulky, a lightweight cart with large wheels, in profile view. The man, wearing a black top hat and formal attire, is seated on the cart, holding the reins of a brown horse in full stride. The scene is set on a racetrack with a dirt path close to us, while green fields and a series of buildings and trees stretch across the horizon. A flagpole with a white flag can be seen in the distance. The sky is a mix of soft blues and subtle cloudy textures. The color palette features earthy tones of brown and green, contrasted by the black and white attire of the driver.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from Pennsylvania. Purchased in 1950 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1953.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1954

  • American Primitive Painting, traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Inst. for the U.S. Information Service, Washington, 1954-1955, (not included in cat). First venue: Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, Switzerland.

1958

  • American Folk Art. Part of American Art. Four Exhibitions, Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, Belgium, 1958, no. 93, 49, as by Unknown.

1962

  • Exhibition of Early American Art, Academy of the Arts, Talbot County Historical Society, Easton, Maryland, 1962, no. 27.

1967

  • National Gallery Loan Exhibition, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1967, no. 13.

1971

  • Extended loan for use by the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy residence, Vienna, Austria, 1971-1978.

1978

  • The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

1980

  • Extended loan for use by the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy residence, Lisbon, Portugal, 1980-1982.

1985

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Walter Cutler, U.S. Embassy residence, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1985-1987.

1989

  • Extended loan for use by Vice President and Mrs. Dan Quayle, Vice President's House, Washington, D.C., 1989-1993.

1993

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador James Blanchard, U.S. Embassy residence, Ottawa, Canada, 1993-1996.

2005

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Mike Nicholson, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C., 2005-2007.

Bibliography

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 70, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 178, repro.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 215-218, repro. 216.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 207, repro.

Inscriptions

on banner: POIN[T] BREEZE [PAR]K ASSOCIATION.

Wikidata ID

Q20188427

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