Torso of a Saite King

Richards’s artistic vision encompassed both broad panoramic landscapes and close-up nature studies. This masterful watercolor, an example of the latter, resembles Asher B. Durand’s intimate forest interiors that focus on moss-covered boulders thrust into the foreground of the composition. Like Durand, Richards was devoted to direct observation of geological and botanical details and the belief that God’s presence existed everywhere in nature, even in humble rocks.