Study of Trees

Joseph Frank Currier

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Joseph Frank Currier’s deep love of nature made him a committed pleinairist who regularly sketched outdoors, seeking to document nature’s shifting moods. Each of these studies conveys an overall impression of the landscape rather than botanically specific detail. Currier captured the billowing canopies of trees with broad tonal masses made with rubbings and smudges of charcoal. He used the tip of the stick to articulate branches and other forms in dark lines. The expressive execution endows the natural world with a sense of dynamism, as if the trees are possessed of an inner life.

Caption

Joseph Frank Currier American, 1843–1909. Study of Trees, ca. 1880. Charcoal on cream, medium weight, sightly textured laid paper, sheet: 4 5/8 x 6 5/16 in. (11.7 x 16 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. John White Alexander, 31.202.3. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 31.202.3_PS2.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Study of Trees

Date

ca. 1880

Medium

Charcoal on cream, medium weight, sightly textured laid paper

Classification

Drawing

Dimensions

sheet: 4 5/8 x 6 5/16 in. (11.7 x 16 cm)

Signatures

Unsigned

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. John White Alexander

Accession Number

31.202.3

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

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