Burnham’s Hotel

Unidentified, Burnham's Hotel, ca. 1845, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.144
Copied Unidentified, Burnham's Hotel, ca. 1845, oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.144
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Burnham’s Hotel
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1845
Location
Dimensions
25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2 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 — road
  • Architecture — vehicle — carriage
  • Architecture Exterior — commercial — hotel
Object Number
1986.65.144
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.144

Artwork Description

Burnham’s Hotel was built in the early nineteenth century near New York City. Hotels like this were popular with wealthy families, who enjoyed the open space a short distance away from the city. A book from the 1890s describes life in one of these luxurious hotels: “On each fine summer afternoon the spacious grounds were filled with ladies and children, who sauntered at their leisure, having no fear of annoyance and confident of perfect immunity from affront.” (Abram C. Dayton, Last Days of Knickerbocker Life in New York, 1897) The artist probably made a living by selling portraits of popular resorts to visitors who wanted a keepsake of their trip. (Lynda Hartigan, Made with Passion, 1990)