Artwork
Approaching Storm
Approaching Storm is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist William Keith. It dates from 1880 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 51.144
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Scott Scammell, 1951
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work's iconography, storm, wind, and tree, functions as both meteorological event and metaphor for the sublime unpredictability of nature.
In William Keith's Approaching Storm (1880), the composition centers on a lone figure seated beneath a wind-bent oak, with cattle grazing uneasily in the foreground as dark clouds gather on the horizon. The storm's encroaching darkness and the bent foliage convey a sense of impending natural force, while the human presence suggests human vulnerability within the landscape. The cattle's restless movement and the figure's stillness underscore themes of anticipation and resilience amid environmental change.
The work's iconography, storm, wind, and tree, functions as both meteorological event and metaphor for the sublime unpredictability of nature.
Technique & Style
Created in 1880, Approaching Storm is an oil painting executed on canvas. The work measures 76.2 cm in height and 127 cm in width. As a landscape genre piece, the artist utilized oil paint to render a dramatic scene characterized by the depiction of wind, storm clouds, trees, a solitary man, and cattle.
The composition focuses on the atmospheric tension of an approaching storm within a natural setting. The painting is currently classified within the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
Approaching Storm was painted by William Keith in 1880 as an oil on canvas work. The painting is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is cataloged within the American Wing. No earlier ownership records or commission details are provided in the available sources, so the known provenance begins with its acquisition by the Met.
Context
William Keith's Approaching Storm (1880), housed in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, exemplifies 19th-century American landscape painting through its dramatic portrayal of wind, trees, cattle, and an impending storm. Keith, a Scottish-born artist who made his career in California, was one of the leading West Coast landscape painters of his era, often associated with the luminous, spiritually charged approach to nature that characterized late 19th-century American landscape art more broadly.
Overview
"Approaching Storm" is an oil on canvas painting that captures a rural landscape on the cusp of significant weather change. The composition features a field populated by livestock and human figures, set against a sky where dark clouds are visibly gathering. This work is housed within The American Wing, reflecting its place in the collection of American art.
Artist & collection
Artist
William Keith (November 18, 1838 – April 13, 1911) was a Scottish-American painter famous for his California landscapes.
- Before a thunderstorm
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