Sketchbook: Overland Trip to Washington Territory

William Trost Richards

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

In 1885 Richards made a two-month rail trip to the Tacoma Territory (present-day Washington State). Tacoma City was the terminal point for the Northern Pacific Railroad, whose directors may have sponsored the artist’s tour in the hope that his paintings would stimulate interest in the region. Richards also made studies en route back east, as this view of the Missouri River demonstrates. The panoramic image of the broad river plain stretching away to the horizon and the expanse of blank paper dramatize his wry observation in a letter home: “The great west is certainly very great, but there are not at present many people in it.”

Caption

William Trost Richards American, 1833–1905. Sketchbook: Overland Trip to Washington Territory, September 1885. Graphite on white paper, 5 1/16 x 7 5/8 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edith Ballinger Price, 1993.225.2. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.225.2.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Sketchbook: Overland Trip to Washington Territory

Date

September 1885

Medium

Graphite on white paper

Classification

Drawing

Dimensions

5 1/16 x 7 5/8 in.

Credit Line

Gift of Edith Ballinger Price

Accession Number

1993.225.2

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

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