View down the Potomack, from the Junction of the Cohongoronta and the Shenandoah in Virginia
William Strickland, Joseph Halfpenny
American Art
William Strickland, an English naturalist and agriculturalist, toured the eastern United States in 1794–95, sketching scenic landmarks and keeping a journal along the way. Based on an on-the-spot pencil drawing, this watercolor depicts the confluence of the Shenandoah and Upper Potomac (also called the Cohongoronta) rivers at Harper’s Ferry, now in West Virginia. When Strickland published his impressions of America after his return, his landscape images helped to familiarize English-speaking audiences with American scenery and to foster tourism in the young nation.
MEDIUM
Watercolor over graphite on cream, moderately thick, slightly to moderately textured laid paper mounted to paperboard
DATES
1795-1796
DIMENSIONS
Overall: 20 11/16 x 27 1/2 in. (52.5 x 69.9 cm)
Image paper: 18 1/8 x 25 in. (46 x 63.5 cm)
Frame: 30 1/2 x 37 1/8 x 2 in. (77.5 x 94.3 x 5.1 cm)
SIGNATURE
Signed lower left: "Sketched June 1795 by William Strickland Esqur"; and signed lower right: "finished by Joseph Halfpenny 1796"
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed in black ink along bottom: "View down the Potomack, from the junction of the Cohongoronta and the Shenandoah in Virginia"
ACCESSION NUMBER
1991.43
CREDIT LINE
Dick S. Ramsay Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
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