Brooklyn Museum: American Art: Sketchbook: British Isles

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Sketchbook: British Isles

In continual search of dramatic coastal topography, Richards embarked on another tour abroad in the summer of 1891 that included an expedition to the remote reaches of northern Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim is a remarkable geological formation of faceted volcanic rock (basalt) eroded over the ages by the action of wind, rain, and waves into huge, mostly hexagonal, columns that form a natural stairway from a cliff into the sea. Local legend attributed the site to the Irish giant Finn McCool, said to have wanted to walk to Scotland without wetting his feet. The more prosaic lava-flow explanation was put forward in 1771.

Artist: William Trost Richards, American, 1833-1905
Medium: Graphite on white paper
Dates: 1891
Dimensions: 4 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. (85 pages)
Collections: American Art
Museum Location: This item is not on view
Accession Number: 1993.225.5
Credit Line: Gift of Edith Ballinger Price
Image: Overall, 1993.225.5.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2004