The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 30, 2023

Trees on a Rocky Hillside

c. 1849

Asher Brown Durand

(American, 1796–1886)

America, 19th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 64.8 x 83.2 x 7.9 cm (25 1/2 x 32 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 42.5 x 61.3 cm (16 3/4 x 24 1/8 in.); Former: 53.5 x 72 x 6.5 cm (21 1/16 x 28 3/8 x 2 9/16 in.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1968.21

Location

206 American Landscape

Fun Fact

Before becoming a painter, Durand designed paper currency for the federal government.

Description

Durand was one of the first American artists to paint outdoors, rather than in the confines of a studio, which was the longstanding tradition. This outdoor oil sketch of a seemingly random corner of the woods offers an intimate view of a granite outcropping amid lush vegetation. Its small-scale, unusually cropped composition contrasts with the sweeping vistas in many other landscapes of the era.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed lower left: "ABD"

Provenance
1968-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Until 1968
(Kennedy Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
c. 1966-1968
Private collection, Philadelphia, probably consigned to Kennedy Galleries 1
1966
(Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, NY, Nov. 17, 1966, no. 48, unsold)
-1966
Private collection

Provenance Footnotes

1 1 After the painting failed to sell at the 1966 Sotheby's sale, it was purchased by a private collector. A letter from Lawrence Fleischman of Kennedy Galleries states that the painting came from a private collection in Philadelphia. The Kennedy Galleries records at the Archives of American Art contain no information concerning their acquisition of the painting.
Citations
Christina Eberli, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 10, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
Lawrence A. Fleischmann, letter to Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, May 11, 1968, in CMA curatorial fi
Christina Eberli, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 10, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
Adams, Henry. What's American about American art?: a gallery tour in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008. Reproduced: p. 68 - 69
Exhibition history

Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Museum of Art, Year in Review for 1968 (29 January - 9 March 1969).

Montclair, NJ, Montclair Art Museum, A.B. Durand, 1796 - 1886 (24 October - 28 November 1971), no. 70, ill. p. 63 as Rocks and Trees.

Dekalb, IL, Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, Near-Looking: A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art (27 October - 22 November 1974), possibly traveled to South Bend, IN, Snite Art Gallery, University of Notre Dame (1 December 1974 - 26 January 1975), no. 15, ill. p. 36.

Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Museum of Art, Visions of Landscape: East and West (17 February - 21 March 1982).

Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).

Durand. Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ (organizer) (October 24-November 28, 1971).

Near-Looking: A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art. Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, DeKalb, IL (organizer) (October 27-November 22, 1974).

Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.21