Nantucket Sand Dune

Abbott Handerson Thayer, C. Morgan McIlhenney, Nantucket Sand Dune, ca. 1890, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Milton Horn, 1981.62
Copied C. Morgan McIlhenney, Abbott Handerson Thayer, Nantucket Sand Dune, ca. 1890, oil on canvas, 18 x 40 1⁄8 in. (45.6 x 101.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Milton Horn, 1981.62
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Nantucket Sand Dune
Artists
Formerly attributed to Abbott Handerson Thayer
Date
ca. 1890
Location
Dimensions
18 x 40 1⁄8 in. (45.6 x 101.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Milton Horn
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — beach
  • Landscape — Massachusetts — Nantucket
Object Number
1981.62
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1981.62

Artwork Description

This painting was originally attributed to Abbott Handerson Thayer, but closer study reveals it to be by Philadelphia artist Charles Morgan McIlhenney. McIlhenney exhibited a few times at the Boston Art Club and spent time sketching on Nantucket, probably in the late 1880s. Many painters in the late nineteenth century went on sketching trips to New England, creating images of the unsheltered beaches and picturesque towns along the coast. The dark clouds in this oil sketch emphasize the bright sandy slopes and, together with the windswept vegetation, create a haunting view of the Atlantic shore.