Landscape (possibly of Staten Island, New York)

Unidentified, Landscape (possibly of Staten Island, New York), ca. 1850, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.155
Copied Unidentified, Landscape (possibly of Staten Island, New York), ca. 1850, oil on canvas, 27 x 34 in. (68.6 x 86.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.155
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Artwork Details

Title
Landscape (possibly of Staten Island, New York)
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1850
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
27 x 34 in. (68.6 x 86.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
  • Landscape — New York — Staten Island
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — farmhouse
  • Object — other — birdhouse
Object Number
1986.65.155
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.155

Artwork Description

This painting appears to show a mining site on Todt Hill, Staten Island. The unknown artist chose to paint a busy crossroads, with wagons carrying ore back and forth and a stagecoach full of passengers. The Chinese laborers in the image suggest that the artist added details from his imagination, however, because there are no records of Asian residents or workers on the island in the mid-nineteenth century. (Lynda Hartigan, Made with Passion, 1990)