id: 143772 accession number: 1968.21 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.21 updated: Trees on a Rocky Hillside, c. 1849. Asher Brown Durand (American, 1796–1886). Oil on canvas; framed: 64.8 x 83.2 x 7.9 cm (25 1/2 x 32 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.); unframed: 42.5 x 61.3 cm (16 3/4 x 24 1/8 in.); former: 53.5 x 72 x 6.5 cm (21 1/16 x 28 3/8 x 2 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1968.21 title: Trees on a Rocky Hillside title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1849 creation date earliest: 1844 creation date latest: 1854 current location: 206 American Landscape creditline: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund copyright: --- culture: America, 19th century technique: oil on canvas department: American Painting and Sculpture collection: American - Painting type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Asher Brown Durand (American, 1796–1886) - artist --- measurements: Framed: 64.8 x 83.2 x 7.9 cm (25 1/2 x 32 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 42.5 x 61.3 cm (16 3/4 x 24 1/8 in.); Former: 53.5 x 72 x 6.5 cm (21 1/16 x 28 3/8 x 2 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed lower left: "ABD" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1968 opening date: 1969-01-29T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969). title: Durand opening date: 1971-10-24T04:00:00 Durand. Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ (organizer) (October 24-November 28, 1971). title: Near-Looking: A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art opening date: 1974-10-27T04:00:00 Near-Looking: A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art. Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, DeKalb, IL (organizer) (October 27-November 22, 1974). title: Visions of Landscape: East and West opening date: 1982-02-17T05:00:00 Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Museum of Art, Year in Review for 1968 (29 January - 9 March 1969).
Montclair, NJ, Montclair Art Museum, A.B. Durand, 1796 - 1886 (24 October - 28 November 1971), no. 70, ill. p. 63 as Rocks and Trees.
Dekalb, IL, Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, Near-Looking: A Close-Focus Look at a Basic Thread of American Art (27 October - 22 November 1974), possibly traveled to South Bend, IN, Snite Art Gallery, University of Notre Dame (1 December 1974 - 26 January 1975), no. 15, ill. p. 36.
Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Museum of Art, Visions of Landscape: East and West (17 February - 21 March 1982). --- PROVENANCE The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1968- footnotes: citations: (Kennedy Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: Until 1968 footnotes: citations: Private collection, Philadelphia, probably consigned to Kennedy Galleries date: c. 1966-1968 footnotes: *
1 After the painting failed to sell at the 1966 Sotheby's sale, it was purchased by a private collector.  A letter from Lawrence Fleischman of Kennedy Galleries states that the painting came from a private collection in Philadelphia.  The Kennedy Galleries records at the Archives of American Art contain no information concerning their acquisition of the painting.
citations: (Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, NY, Nov. 17, 1966, no. 48, unsold) date: 1966 footnotes: citations: Private collection date: -1966 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Before becoming a painter, Durand designed paper currency for the federal government. digital description: Durand was one of the first American artists to paint outdoors, rather than in the confines of a studio, which was the longstanding tradition. This outdoor oil sketch of a seemingly random corner of the woods offers an intimate view of a granite outcropping amid lush vegetation. Its small-scale, unusually cropped composition contrasts with the sweeping vistas in many other landscapes of the era. wall description: Durand was one of the first American artists to paint outdoors, rather than in the confines of a studio, which was the longstanding tradition. This outdoor oil sketch of a seemingly random corner of the woods offers an intimate view of a granite outcropping amid lush vegetation. Its small-scale, unusually cropped composition contrasts with the sweeping vistas in many other landscapes in this gallery. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Christina Eberli, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 10, 2014, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Lawrence A. Fleischmann, letter to Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, May 11, 1968, in CMA curatorial fi page number: url: page number: url: page number: url: Christina Eberli, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 10, 2014, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: page number: url: Adams, Henry. What's American about American art?: a gallery tour in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008. page number: Reproduced: p. 68 - 69 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.21/1968.21_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.21/1968.21_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.21/1968.21_full.tif