Boat Yard on the East River
William Louis Sonntag, American, 1822 - 1900
c. 1870-1874
Oil on canvas
Overall: 12 1/4 × 10 1/4 in. (31.1 × 26 cm)
Frame: 17 × 15 in. (43.2 × 38.1 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Robert J. Strasenburgh II 1942 Fund
2022.6
Geography
Place Made: New York, United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Painting
Research Area
Painting
Not on view
Inscriptions
On verso, by the artist, "On. The. East. River."
Label
William Louis Sonntag’s industrial scene upends our expectations of 19th-century American landscapes, highlighting the environmental impact of rapid industrialization. Man-made factories and smokestacks looming above New York’s waterways replace the mountains and lakes of the natural world. The sun’s orange reflections muted by an overcast and polluted sky imbue Sonntag’s scene with a sense of romanticism reminiscent of earlier American landscapes on this wall. Given its small size, Boat Yard may have been painted on the spot—the artist lived just a few blocks away from the river on East 22nd Street.
From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
William Louis Sonntag’s industrial scene upends our expectations of 19th-century American landscapes by highlighting the environmental impact of rapid industrialization. Man-made factories and smokestacks looming above New York’s waterways replace the mountains and lakes of the natural world. The sun’s orange reflections muted by an overcast and polluted sky imbue Sonntag’s scene with a sense of romanticism, transforming the contaminated landscape into a scene of sublime beauty. Given its small size, Boat Yard may have been painted on the spot—the artist lived just a few blocks away from the river on East 22nd Street.
From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022
GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022
First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023
Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023
Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023
Art History 40.01, American Art and Identity, Mary Coffey, Fall 2023
Creative Writing 10.02, Writing and Reading Fiction, Katherine Crouch, Fall 2023
Geography 11.01, Qualitative Methods, Emma Colven, Fall 2023
Geography 2.01, Introduction to Human Geography, Coleen Fox, Fall 2023
Geography 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Fall 2023
English 30.01, African and African American Studies 34.01, Early Black American LIterature, Michael Chaney, Winter 2024
Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024
Writing 5.07, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024
Exhibition History
Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, Israel Sack Gallery and the Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 29, 2023-November 24, 2024.
Publication History
Moure, Nancy Dustin Wall. William Louis Sonntag: Artist of the Ideal 1822-1900. Los Angeles: Goldfield Galleries, 1980, Catalogue No. 221, illus. page 91.
Provenance
Private collection; to Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts inventory no. 21719, May 1965; private collection, Dedham, Massachusetts, June 1965, until 2014; by descent to private collection, Lexington, MA, until 2021; to Vose Galleries, Boston, 2021, stock no. 37263; sold to present collection, 2022.
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