Artwork
The Trout Pool
The Trout Pool is an oil painting by the Hudson River School artist Worthington Whittredge. It dates from 1870 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 21.115.4
- Credit line
- Gift of Colonel Charles A. Fowler, 1921
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Worthington Whittredge's 1870 oil painting, The Trout Pool, presents a landscape centered on a fishing pond situated within a dense forest.
Worthington Whittredge's 1870 oil painting, The Trout Pool, presents a landscape centered on a fishing pond situated within a dense forest. The work's iconography is defined by this specific natural setting, focusing on the interplay between the water and the surrounding woods. While the composition clearly illustrates a scene of nature, the available records describe the visual elements of the forest and pool without elaborating on specific symbolic meanings beyond the depiction of the American wilderness.
Technique & Style
The Trout Pool (1870) is an oil on canvas work by Worthington Whittredge, classified within the American Wing as a landscape painting that portrays a forested scene. The piece was executed using oil paint applied to a stretched canvas support, a technique typical of mid-19th-century American landscape practice. Its composition centers on a still pond framed by dense trees, emphasizing atmospheric light and meticulous brushwork that renders foliage with subtle tonal variation.
The painting's formal qualities include a balanced horizontal format, dimensions of roughly 91 × 69 cm, and a restrained palette that conveys a sense of quiet realism. It remains in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
The Trout Pool was created in 1870 by Worthington Whittredge as an oil-on-canvas landscape depicting a forest fishing pond. According to the sources, the painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently housed and classified under the American Wing. No earlier owners or commission details are recorded in the provided material, and the available sources do not specify an accession number or document an exhibition history for the work.
Context
Created in 1870, The Trout Pool is an oil on canvas landscape by Worthington Whittredge that portrays a forest fishing pond. The work, classified as a landscape painting, belongs to the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is noted for its detailed rendering of natural scenery. Its depiction of a dense forest and tranquil water reflects mid-nineteenth-century American artistic interests in wilderness and pastoral subjects.
Scholarship on the piece emphasizes its role within Whittredge's oeuvre and the broader context of American landscape art of the period.
Overview
Worthington Whittredge's mid-19th-century oil painting, The Trout Pool, captures a serene moment within a dense forest. Executed on canvas, the work presents a small, shimmering body of water surrounded by untouched natural elements. This piece is housed in The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering a glimpse into American landscape art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Thomas Worthington Whittredge (May 22, 1820 – February 25, 1910) was an American artist of the Hudson River School.
