The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane

John Quidor, The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane, 1858, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by the Catherine Walden Myer Endowment, the Julia D. Strong Endowment, and the Director's Discretionary Fund, 1994.120
John Quidor, The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane, 1858, oil on canvas, 26 7833 78 in. (68.386.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by the Catherine Walden Myer Endowment, the Julia D. Strong Endowment, and the Director’s Discretionary Fund, 1994.120
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane
Artist
Date
1858
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
26 7833 78 in. (68.386.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible in part by the Catherine Walden Myer Endowment, the Julia D. Strong Endowment, and the Director’s Discretionary Fund
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — forest
  • Landscape — time — evening
  • Literature — Irving — Legend of Sleepy Hollow
  • Literature — character — Icahabod Crane
  • Literature — character — Headless Horseman
  • Equestrian
Object Number
1994.120

Artwork Description

Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" inspired Quidor to paint the climactic moment from this famous tale. Ichabod Crane is a prickly and stuck-up schoolmaster and a bumbling suitor for the lovely Katrina, who uses him to make her beau jealous. The pompous twit is no match for the clever locals, and he disappears, chased away by the headless horseman through a darkened wood. Irving's educated nitwit, strapping local boy and flirtatious beauty would reappear as folk characters throughout American literature in the nineteenth century.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (17 items)

Frank Espada, Alberto (South Bronx, New York), 1981, printed ca. 1995, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.12, © 1981, Frank Espada Photography
Alberto (South Bronx, New York)
Date1981, printed ca. 1995
inkjet print
Not on view
Frank Espada, Untitled (Two boys, East New York), 1964, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.8, © 1964, Frank Espada Photography
Untitled (Two boys, East New York)
Date1964
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Frank Espada, No Parking (Williamsburg, Brooklyn), 1974, printed ca. 1995, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.10, © 1974, Frank Espada Photography
No Parking (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Date1974, printed ca. 1995
inkjet print
Not on view
Frank Espada, Untitled (Three Kings Day Parade – leaving), 1981, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.16, © 1981, Frank Espada Photography
Untitled (Three Kings Day Parade – leaving)
Date1981
gelatin silver print
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

David Levinthal, Untitled from the series Hitler Moves East, 1975, printed 2015, Pigment print on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 2017.32.168, © 1975, David Levinthal
Untitled from the series Hitler Moves East
Date1975, printed 2015
Pigment print on paper
Not on view
David Levinthal, Untitled from the series Hitler Moves East, 1974, printed 2015, Pigment print on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 2017.32.156, © 1974, David Levinthal
Untitled from the series Hitler Moves East
Date1974, printed 2015
Pigment print on paper
Not on view
David Levinthal, Untitled from the series Hitler Moves East, 1974, printed 2015, Pigment print on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 2017.32.154, © 1974, David Levinthal
Untitled from the series Hitler Moves East
Date1974, printed 2015
Pigment print on paper
Not on view