Rip Van Winkle

Frederick MacMonnies, born New York City 1863-died New York City 1937 · 1876-1880

Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” first appeared in The Sketch Book of 1819 and was performed onstage in 1865 by the actor Joseph Jefferson, who played the title role to critical acclaim. In the tale, Rip Van Winkle ventures out into the mountains and runs across some strangers who befriend him and ply him with liquor. He falls asleep and awakens to find that he has slept for twenty years and is an old graybeard. Frederick MacMonnies’ inspiration for the subject may have come from his visit to an art studio as a child, where he saw the sculptor John Rogers making statues of Rip Van Winkle.