Calm Before a Storm, Newport
William Trost Richards
American Art
Already established as a landscape painter in oils, William Trost Richards began working in watercolor in earnest about 1870 and over the next decade was widely regarded as one of America’s best watercolorists. This turn to the medium coincided with a new focus on coastal subjects—watercolor was particularly well suited both to sketching outdoors and to capturing the constantly shifting climatic conditions at the water’s edge. He generally used an additive technique: laying down transparent washes of color and then applying touches of more opaque paints to create body and texture.
MEDIUM
Transparent and opaque watercolor on cream, moderately thick, moderately textured wove paper
DATES
ca. 1874
DIMENSIONS
8 13/16 x 13 9/16 in. (22.4 x 34.4 cm)
Frame: 16 3/8 x 21 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. (41.6 x 54 x 3.8 cm)
SIGNATURE
Signed lower left: "Wm. T. Richards"
ACCESSION NUMBER
74.30.2
CREDIT LINE
Dick S. Ramsay Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
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