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Accession #	41.980.62
Artist	Daniel Ridgway Knight
Title	The Well
Date	1880
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	39 5/16 x 28 15/16 in. (99.9 x 73.5 cm)
Signed	Signed lower left: "D. Ridgway Knight· / Paris 1880"
Credit Line	Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William E. S. Griswold
Location	Visible Storage: Case 16, Screen J (Paintings)

Curatorial Remarks: Like many Americans of his generation, Daniel Ridgway Knight sought his academic training in Paris, where he remained as an expatriate from 1873. The Well, which is typical of the sentimentalized peasant subjects that occupied French-trained Americans and pleased their audiences at home, demonstrates the detailed character of Knight’s early work. In keeping with the rigorous French academic method, he executed extensive preparatory subjects prior to undertaking the finished painting. After completing numerous delicate preliminary drawings, Knight transcribed the drawing to his canvas, carefully plotting the compositional lines and fine details that he would follow precisely with his brush. This “underdrawing,” beneath the paint layer, is visible with the use of infrared photography.