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Landscape (Birch and Oaks)

Asher B. Durand

American Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, A Quiet Place
Asher B. Durand, considered a founder of the Hudson River School along with Thomas Cole (represented in this gallery), was also identified with the progressive practices of plein air (outdoor) painting and innovative pictorial types. By the 1850s forest interiors in a compressed vertical format, as seen in this outdoor study, had become Durand’s signature compositional type. Here, the diagonal thrust of the trees dominates the foreground, while crisply delineated textures and contrasts of light and shadow convey minute detail, suggesting careful study from nature.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
DATES ca. 1855–1857
DIMENSIONS 23 15/16 × 17 7/8 in. (60.8 × 45.4 cm) frame: 33 3/8 × 27 3/8 × 4 1/2 in. (84.8 × 69.5 × 11.4 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE Signed lower right: "A B D"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 15.326
CREDIT LINE Bequest of Charles A. Schieren
PROVENANCE Prior to 1912, provenance not yet documented; before December 31, 1912, acquired by Charles Adolph Schieren of Brooklyn, NY; April 5, 1915, bequeathed by Charles Adolph Schieren to the Brooklyn Museum.
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MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, A Quiet Place
CAPTION Asher B. Durand (American, 1796–1886). Landscape (Birch and Oaks), ca. 1855–1857. Oil on canvas, 23 15/16 × 17 7/8 in. (60.8 × 45.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Charles A. Schieren, 15.326 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.326_PS22.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 15.326_PS22.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024
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