Peaceful Valley

c. 1872

Alexander Helwig Wyant

Associated Names
Alexander Helwig Wyant

Artist, American, 1836 - 1892

The painting depicts a rural landscape at sunset or sunrise. The horizon is slightly above the center, showing distant pale-pink and purple mountains against the sky. Closest to us is an area with dark green bushes and vegetation, leading to a lighter green field surrounded by green-and-brown trees. The palette is warm and earthy, with greens and browns in the bottom transitioning to purples and pinks in the distance. The sky is a pale-yellow color that fades into light blue towards the top left corner, and faint yellow and gray clouds drift across it.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of James C. Stotlar

  • Dimensions

    overall: 17.7 x 31.1 cm (6 15/16 x 12 1/4 in.)
    framed: 36.8 x 49.5 x 4.8 cm (14 1/2 x 19 1/2 x 1 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1965.10.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Private collection, Indianapolis, Indiana, until 1919;[1] acquired 1919 by (M. A. Newhouse and Son, Saint Louis, Missouri); sold 1920 to Harry Stotlar, Benton, Illinois;[2] his son, James C. Stotlar, Bethesda, Maryland; gift 1965 to NGA.
[1] Letter, B.M. Newhouse to Harry Stotlar, 19 November 1919 (in NGA curatorial files), stating that he had just acquired the painting from an unnamed individual in Indianapolis.
[2] Bill of sale, M. A. Newhouse and Son, dated 22 January 1920 (in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1968

  • Springfield Art Festival, Drury College, Springfield, Missouri, 1968, no cat.

1974

  • 19th Century American Topographic Painters, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Florida, 1974-1975, no. 149, repro.

1975

  • Extended loan for use by the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy residence, Dublin, Ireland, 1975-1978.

1979

  • Extended loan for use by the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy residence, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1979-1981.

1985

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Stuart, U.S. Embassy residence, Oslo, Norway, 1985-1989.

1991

  • Extended loan for use by Justice Anthony Scalia, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1991-1999.

2001

  • Extended loan for use by Vice President Richard Cheney, The White House, Washington, D.C., 2001-2009.

2009

  • Extended loan for use by Vice President Joseph R. Biden The White House, Washington, D.C., 2009-2010..

2014

  • Peindre l'Amerique. Les artistes du Nouveau Monde 1830-1900, Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, 2014, no. 55, repro.

2017

  • Extended loan for use by the Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C., 2017-.

Bibliography

1968

  • Olpin, Robert Spencer. Alexander Helwig Wyant, 1836-1892. Exh. cat. Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, 1968: 16.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 124, repro.

1971

  • Olpin, Robert Spencer. "Alexander Helwig Wyant, American Landscape Painter: An Investigation of His Life and Fame and a Critical Analysis of his Work with a Catalogue Raisonné of Wyant Painting." Ph.D. dissertation, Boston University, 1971: 287, no. 63.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 261, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 123, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 384, repro.

1998

  • Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 270-272, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: A H. Wyant

Wikidata ID

Q20188755

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