This painting shows a collection of buildings and towers on rolling green hills around a light gray body of water. In the bottom right corner, ships with billowing sails glide on a wide waterway that leads off into three rivers in different directions, each with multiple bridges spanning them. On the green land is a mix of buildings ranging from modest to towering structures, some resembling modern skyscrapers and others medieval fortresses and towers. The more modern buildings are farther in the distance, resting atop gray and blue clouds under a pale-yellow sky. The color palette includes muted earth tones, soft greens, browns, grays, blues, and off-whites.
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This painting shows a collection of buildings and towers on rolling green hills around a light gray body of water. In the bottom right corner, ships with billowing sails glide on a wide waterway that leads off into three rivers in different directions, each with multiple bridges spanning them. On the green land is a mix of buildings ranging from modest to towering structures, some resembling modern skyscrapers and others medieval fortresses and towers. The more modern buildings are farther in the distance, resting atop gray and blue clouds under a pale-yellow sky. The color palette includes muted earth tones, soft greens, browns, grays, blues, and off-whites.

National Gallery of Art · Painting

A City of Fantasy

American 19th Century

Date
mid 19th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 73 x 103.2 cm (28 3/4 x 40 5/8 in.) framed: 114.3 x 85.7 x 5 cm (45 x 33 3/4 x 1 15/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Accession number
1967.20.3
Credit line
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Time span
1801 to 1825
Department
CAB

Subjects and terms

  • painted surface
  • American
  • Urban scene
  • exterior
  • architecture
  • American Naive Paintings
  • Naive
Provenance

Recorded as from Boston. (John's Antiques, city unknown), by whom sold in 1954 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1967.

NGA object ID 50822. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.