Scene on the Hudson (Rip Van Winkle)

James Hamilton, Scene on the Hudson (Rip Van Winkle), 1845, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1968.138
James Hamilton, Scene on the Hudson (Rip Van Winkle), 1845, oil on canvas, 38 x 57 1⁄8 in. (96.6 x 145.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1968.138
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Artwork Details

Title
Scene on the Hudson (Rip Van Winkle)
Artist
Date
1845
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
38 x 57 1⁄8 in. (96.6 x 145.1 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — dog
  • Landscape — forest
  • Landscape — New York
  • Figure male — full length
  • Landscape — river — Hudson River
  • Literature — Irving — Rip Van Winkle
Object Number
1968.138
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1968.138

Artwork Description

Hamilton's painting combines several scenes from Washington Irving's short story. The hazy river valley beyond the trees evokes the Catskills, where Rip Van Winkle looked out over the Hudson River "moving on its silent but majestic course." Beneath the cavernous rock, several men enjoy a game of ninepins while Rip drinks the brew that will make him sleep for twenty years and awake to a different world. Irving wrote his stories for sophisticated urban Americans, whose fast-moving culture, fed by the nation’s industrialization, was displacing the rural society of the old Dutch Knickerbockers of the Hudson Valley.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (744 items)

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William Zorach, Floating Figure, 1922, cast plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.3
Floating Figure
Artist
Date1922
cast plaster
On view
William Zorach, The Builder (study for Chase Bank), ca. 1960, cast and patinated plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.29
The Builder (study for Chase Bank)
Artist
Dateca. 1960
cast and patinated plaster
On view
William Zorach, Small Head, ca. 1958-1962, carved stone, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.9
Small Head
Artist
Dateca. 1958-1962
carved stone
On view
William Zorach, Child on a Pony, 1934, cast plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.19
Child on a Pony
Artist
Date1934
cast plaster
On view

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Anthony de Francisci, Science Medal Award, 1951, plaster mold/cast, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Anthony de Francisci, 1966.51.21
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