1873
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Ship-Building, Gloucester Harbor is a 1873 ink by American 19th Century, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This black-and-white scene shows a busy shipyard at Gloucester Harbor. Workers sit on wooden planks, carving and shaping pieces of wood. Above them, a half-built ship rests on a scaffold, with more workers climbing and hammering. The ground is littered with sawdust and tools, and a small boat model sits near one man. The artist used a technique called cross-hatching—layers of crisscrossed lines—to create shadows and depth. This style was common in wood engravings, which were often printed in newspapers. Next, check out engraving to see how artists like this made detailed prints from woodblocks.
This artist painted everyday American life in the 1800s. Look at *Farmhouse in Mahantango Valley*—a quiet, sunlit scene of rural Pennsylvania. *Boy and Girl* shows two children standing close, their faces turned toward…
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