Seascape
T. Clark Oliver, American, 1827 - 1893
1879
Oil on canvas
Overall: 15 3/4 × 28 1/8 in. (40 × 71.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Julia L. Whittier Fund
P.957.35
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Painting
Research Area
Painting
On view
Inscriptions
Signed and dated, lower left: Clark Oliver / 1879
Label
Thomas Oliver painted these two paintings in 1879, just as the recession caused by the market crash of 1873 began to recede. The beached boat in Stranded becomes a metaphor for the era’s financial instability: without sails and higher waters, the ship cannot leave the beach. Large stones likewise prohibit movement along the seashore. In Oliver’s Seascape, a lone fisherman leans against a boat at the water’s edge and looks toward the larger sails in the distance. Does he brave the waters to see what opportunities or failures might await him? Both paintings meditate on water’s limitations and possibilities during this precarious economic period.
From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023
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-June 16, 2024.
The New England Image: 19th Century Landscapes from the College Collection, Carpenter Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 14-September 26, 1982.
Publication History
Robert L. McGrath, The New England Image: 19th Century Landscapes from the College Collection, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 1982, pp. 52-533 no. 21.
Provenance
Raymond G. Clifton (1895-1968), Pine Cupboard Antique Shop, Franklin, New Hampshire; sold to present collection, 1957.
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