Past Exhibition

An American Perspective

A man sits on a sheer, rocky outcropping high above a sunlit expanse of land that stretches to meet a sun-dappled sea in this horizontal painting. The outcropping slopes in to fill the right half of the composition, and is partially carpeted by mustard-yellow, brown, and moss-green growth. Bright sunlight from the upper right glints off some of the craggy, steel-gray rock faces. The man is tiny in scale within the composition, and sits near the top right with his legs stretched out in front of him. He wears a denim-blue shirt, tan pants, and soft hat with a narrow brim. He appears to have red hair and a beard. He holds a white object in front of him, presumably paper or a notebook. Behind him an open box of paints and brushes sits near a camp stool with a closed white parasol planted next to it. A lower hill in the middle distance slopes in from the left side and disappears behind the outcroppingin the center of the composition. The hill is covered with muted and dark greens and yellows, suggesting a forest of pine trees. The hill descends to meet the flat, mauve-tinted land, which is crisscrossed with shallow fissures. In the distance, the area where the narrow band of powder-blue sea meets the sky, about three-quarters of the way up the canvas, is painted with a tan-colored haze. The artist signed the work in the lower right as if he had carved his name and the date into the rock. It reads, “S R Gifford 1865.”
Sanford Robinson Gifford, The Artist Sketching at Mount Desert, Maine, 1864-1865, oil on canvas, Gift of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr. in honor of John Wilmerding, 2004.99.1

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    East Building, Upper Level, West Bridge (6,000 sq. ft.)
A man sits on a sheer, rocky outcropping high above a sunlit expanse of land that stretches to meet a sun-dappled sea in this horizontal painting. The outcropping slopes in to fill the right half of the composition, and is partially carpeted by mustard-yellow, brown, and moss-green growth. Bright sunlight from the upper right glints off some of the craggy, steel-gray rock faces. The man is tiny in scale within the composition, and sits near the top right with his legs stretched out in front of him. He wears a denim-blue shirt, tan pants, and soft hat with a narrow brim. He appears to have red hair and a beard. He holds a white object in front of him, presumably paper or a notebook. Behind him an open box of paints and brushes sits near a camp stool with a closed white parasol planted next to it. A lower hill in the middle distance slopes in from the left side and disappears behind the outcroppingin the center of the composition. The hill is covered with muted and dark greens and yellows, suggesting a forest of pine trees. The hill descends to meet the flat, mauve-tinted land, which is crisscrossed with shallow fissures. In the distance, the area where the narrow band of powder-blue sea meets the sky, about three-quarters of the way up the canvas, is painted with a tan-colored haze. The artist signed the work in the lower right as if he had carved his name and the date into the rock. It reads, “S R Gifford 1865.”
Sanford Robinson Gifford, The Artist Sketching at Mount Desert, Maine, 1864-1865, oil on canvas, Gift of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr. in honor of John Wilmerding, 2004.99.1

Overview: 102 paintings, drawings, watercolors, pastels, and neoclassical sculpture came from the private collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz in Los Angeles.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by John Wilmerding, curator of American art, with Linda Ayres, assistant curator, and Earl A. Powell III, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gaillard Ravenel, Mark Leithauser, Elroy Quenroe, and John Wilmerding designed the exhibition for the National Gallery, recreating a late 19th-century American interior with dado and crown moldings, simulated wood graining, and marbleized pedestals. Gordon Anson designed the lighting for the National Gallery.

Sponsor: The exhibition was supported by Republic National Bank of New York, Trade Development Bank, Geneva, and Banco Safra, S.A., Brazil.

Attendance: 120,152

Catalog: An American Perspective: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Art from the Collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz Jr., by John Wilmerding, Linda Ayres, and Earl A. Powell III. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1981.

Other Venues:

  • Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, 03/19/1982–05/23/1982
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 07/06/1982–09/26/1982

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