Stranded

T. Clark Oliver, American, 1827 - 1893

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1879

Oil on canvas

Overall: 12 × 18 1/8 in. (30.5 × 46 cm)

Frame: 14 1/2 × 20 1/2 in. (36.8 × 52.1 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Museum Purchase

P.966.42

Geography

Place Made: United States, North America

Period

19th century

Object Name

Painting

Research Area

Painting

On view

Inscriptions

Signed and dated, lower right: Clark Oliver -79. Label on reverse: A. A. WALKER & CO. / IMPORTING / ARTISTS COLORMEN, / 594 Washington Street / BOSTON.

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.

Provenance

Raymond G. Clifton (1895-1968), Pine Cupboard Antique Shop, Franklin, New Hampshire; sold to present collection, 1966.

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