The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 16, 2026

Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia

c. 1872–90

Israel Cook Russell

(American, 1852–1906)
America
albumen print
Sheet: 14.9 x 19.1 cm (5 7/8 x 7 1/2 in.)
Gift of Judith K. McMillan 2024.133
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

From the 1700s through the Civil War, the Great Dismal Swamp’s timber was harvested by slave labor, yet the swamp also housed numerous people who had escaped slavery.

Description

Israel Cook Russell’s view of the Great Dismal Swamp, which straddles the border between Virginia and North Carolina, evokes both the locale’s abundance of timber and its sense of desolation. Russell, a celebrated geologist, took care to express the geological and biological forces that shaped landscapes but also to create images of artistic value.
  • February 12, 2000
    (Gary Edwards Gallery, Washington, DC, sold to Judith K. McMillan, Chardon Township, OH)
    2000–2024
    Judith K. McMillan, Chardon Township, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    September 9, 2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia|url=false|author=Israel Cook Russell|year=c. 1872–90|access-date=16 March 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.133