Artwork
The Farm
The Farm is a watercolor work on paper by the Hudson River School artist Alfred Thompson Bricher. It dates from 1885 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 1974.358
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld, 1974
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Alfred Thompson Bricher's 1880 work, The Farm, is a landscape composition executed in watercolor, gouache, and graphite.
Alfred Thompson Bricher's 1880 work, The Farm, is a landscape composition executed in watercolor, gouache, and graphite. The primary subject depicted within the scene is a tree, which serves as the central iconographic element of the piece. As a landscape genre work, the image represents a rural setting, though specific symbolic interpretations or broader narrative meanings regarding the farm itself are not detailed in the available records beyond the physical presence of the vegetation.
Technique & Style
Technique & Style
The work is executed in watercolor and gouache layered over graphite underdrawing on a white wove paper support, a combination that yields a luminous, layered effect in which translucent washes modulate the opacity of the gouache to build form and atmosphere.
Compositionally, the scene is arranged to emphasize the interplay of light and foliage, with the tree acting as a focal node around which the surrounding landscape is organized. Handling is light yet deliberate, exploiting the fluidity of the medium to suggest delicate foliage and dappled light rather than hard outlines.
Dimensions are 35.6 cm in height by 50.6 cm in width.
History & Provenance
The work is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it is inventoried as 1975.1.212. It was painted in 1880.
The painting has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it appeared in the 2017 reinstallation of The American Wing’s watercolor holdings.
Overview
Alfred Thompson Bricher’s work titled The Farm, executed around 1885, is a modestly sized composition rendered on white wove paper. The piece combines watercolor, gouache, and graphite, presenting a tranquil rural landscape that includes a cluster of trees and a small group of farm structures.
Context
During the 1880s, American artists increasingly explored rural subjects, reflecting a broader cultural interest in the nation’s agrarian roots. Bricher, known primarily for coastal scenes, applied his atmospheric sensibility to an inland setting in this piece.
Artist & collection
- Hillside in Summer
Landscape with cottages
The Pine Path at Gilleleje
Hambledon Mill from the Road
Parti fra knivfabrikken ved Råvaddam
An Avenue. Frederiksværk
Parti fra knivfabrikken ved Råvaddam
View of a House in Hørsholm
Early Summer
View of a House in Hørsholm
Untitled (Pastorale Scene with Sawmill)
Englandskab. Sommerdag