The Birches of the Catskills

Worthington Whittredge, The Birches of the Catskills, ca. 1875, oil on canvas mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William Katzenbach, 1967.144
Copied Worthington Whittredge, The Birches of the Catskills, ca. 1875, oil on canvas mounted on paperboard, 13 147 34 in. (33.519.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William Katzenbach, 1967.144
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Artwork Details

Title
The Birches of the Catskills
Date
ca. 1875
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
13 147 34 in. (33.519.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of William Katzenbach
Mediums Description
oil on canvas mounted on paperboard
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape — water
  • Landscape — New York
  • Landscape — mountain — Catskill Mountains
  • Landscape — tree — birch tree
Object Number
1967.144

Artwork Description

Worthington Whittredge found it difficult to adjust to painting the New England landscape after almost ten years abroad. He described the forests as “a mass of decaying logs and tangled brush wood” that were completely different from the “well-ordered” European views he was used to. (The Autobiography of Worthington Whittredge, 1942, reprinted in Janson, Worthington Whittredge, 1989) The broad brushstrokes of The Birches of the Catskills suggest that Whittredge painted the small canvas on the spot. The disordered view of tall trees, fallen branches, and undergrowth emphasizes the untamed quality that had initially unsettled the artist.