Portraits of Trees, a Favorite Subject of Artists
Many artists have painted, photographed, and drawn nature’s magnificent sculptures.
Art in Focus
min read
Bask in the glow of the afternoon sun radiating from the center of this painting. Let your eyes travel to its colors: green, gold, and the fiery blaze of leaves turning red.
In Autumn – On the Hudson River, Jasper Francis Cropsey captures the splendor of North American fall. This monumental work stands 5 feet tall and stretches 9 feet across. To make it, Cropsey carefully observed the trees on the banks of the Hudson River. He painted them so faithfully that individual species can be identified: elm, birch, red oak, maple, American chestnut, and the evergreen hemlock and pine trees.
But when he first exhibited this work across the Atlantic in London in 1860, British audiences were skeptical that such brilliant foliage could be real. Leaves in the UK and Europe turn mostly yellow in fall, while those in North America favor towards red and orange. In response, Cropsey mounted American autumn leaves next to the painting as proof.
Jasper Francis Cropsey, detail of Autumn - On the Hudson River, 1860, oil on canvas, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1963.9.1.
No matter where you are in the world or what seasons you’re passing through, take this scene as an invitation to pause and notice changes in the natural world around you. And if there isn't currently a riot of color or brisk fall breeze where you live, spend some time with our autumnal images.
Winslow Homer, Autumn, 1877, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.22
Christian Rohlfs, White Beeches in Fall, 1910, oil on canvas, Collection of Arnold and Joan Saltzman, 2020.112.5
William Trost Richards, October, 1863, oil on canvas, The William Stamps Farish Fund, 2003.29.1
Arthur L. Flory, Autumn, 1964, color lithograph, Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.588
Alma Thomas, Autumn Drama, c. 1969, acrylic on canvas, Corcoran Collection (The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Gift of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.), 2015.19.211
William Merritt Chase, Gathering Autumn Flowers, 1894/1895, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2012.89.1
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Autumn Landscape, watercolor, Rosenwald Collection, 1945.5.1320
Hans Hofmann, Autumn Gold, 1957, oil on canvas, Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection, 1996.81.4
Anne Appleby, Autumn Aspen, 2000, color aquatint with burnishing on Somerset paper, Gift of Kathan Brown, 2006.122.1
Auguste Allongé, Autumn Landscape in the Forest of Fontainebleau, c. 1860, watercolor with graphite, Purchased as the Gift of Alexander M. and Judith W. Laughlin, 2019.64.1
Frances H. Gearhart, Fall, 1920s, color woodcut on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Bequest of Frank B. Bristow), 2015.19.1185
John Marin, Little Maple, Deer Isle No. 1, 1926, watercolor over graphite on wove paper, Gift of John Marin, Jr., 1986.54.117
Ansel Adams, Dawn, Autumn, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, 1948, printed 1981, gelatin silver print, Gift of Virginia B. Adams, 1986.3.55
Alfred Stieglitz, Autumn, 1893, printed 1895/1896, platinum print, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949.3.83
Fidelia Bridges, Dead Yellow-breasted Bird in Autumn Landscape, 1870s, watercolor on wove paper, Gift of William and Abigail Gerdts, 2018.44.43
Marguerite Zorach, Autumn Colors, c. 1940, color screenprint on wove paper, Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy, 2017.148.69
Hideo Hagiwara, Leaves, 1960, 4-color lithograph, Rosenwald Collection, 1964.8.1070
Jay Moon, Autumn Haiku, 1975, etching and aquatint, Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.1069
Charles Burchfield, Autumn Wind, 1952, lithograph, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.1107
Thomas Doughty, View on the Hudson in Autumn, 1850, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran), 2015.19.113
Top image: Jasper Francis Cropsey, Autumn - On the Hudson River, 1860, oil on canvas, Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1963.9.1.