The Artist’s House, 1883
by William Trost Richards (1833–1905)4⅝ x 7 inches (sight size)
Initialed and dated lower right: R. 1883
Provenance
Private collection, Europe, by family descent
Private collection, New York, New York
Related Works
W. T. Richards’ House on Conanicut Island, 1882, watercolor and Chinese white on paper, 3¼ x 5 inches; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
View of the Artist's Home, Graycliff, [Near] Newport, Rhode Island, 1894, oil on canvas, 12½ x 15½ inches; Private collection
Note: In 1881, William Trost Richards bought land on the south side of Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay and designed a summer house overlooking the water. The house, known as Graycliff, no longer stands but is featured in several of Richards’s paintings. In this depiction, the artist emphasizes the grand scale of the craggy cliffs just before his home. In a letter to Philadelphia art patron George Whitney, Richards declared, “You can’t realize what a delight it is to have the finest subjects right in ones [sic] ‘front yard’.”[1]
[1] Linda S. Ferber, William Trost Richards, American Landscape & Marine Painter, 1833–1905 (Brooklyn, NY: The Brooklyn Museum, 1973), 36.
Artist Biography
American Marine Painter
By Nina Sangimino
Best known for his luminous seascapes, Richards began his career painting landscapes influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite tradition.
I. Biography
II. Chronology
III. Collections
IV. Exhibitions
V. Memberships
VI. Notes
VII. Suggested Resources
I. Biography
William Trost Richards was one of the most accomplished American artists of the nineteenth century and enjoyed a long and successful career in
