Artwork
Sketch from Nature
Sketch from Nature is a graphite drawing by the Impressionist artist Asher Brown Durand. It dates from 1855 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 36.63.1
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. John Sylvester, 1936
About this work
Overview
Sketch from Nature is a graphite drawing on gray-green paper created by Asher Brown Durand around 1855.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing depicts a single tree trunk rising from the forest floor, capturing the play of sunlight on its form.
Technique & Style
Durand employed sharp pencil lines and careful shading to convey texture and light, utilizing the paper's tone to enhance highlights.
History & Provenance
This work was produced outdoors, with Durand working rapidly in a notebook to record observations that would inform later, larger landscape compositions.
Artist & collection
Artist
Asher Brown Durand spent his life in the rolling hills of New Jersey, where the forests and farmland shaped his quiet, deliberate way of seeing.
