From the Shawangunk Mountains

Sanford Robinson Gifford, born Greenfield, NY 1823-died New York City 1880 · 1823-1880

This tiny image is an oil sketch for one of Sanford Robinson Gifford’s many paintings of the Shawangunk Mountains in New York. Gifford was one of the first artists to recognize the artistic potential of the Shawangunks, which were filled with steep, craggy slopes and sweeping valleys (Avery and Kelly, eds., Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford, 2003). He used quick, expressive brushstrokes to capture the rocks, trees, and sky in the glowing colors of a summer sunset.