Browse Items (1303 total)

Prior to the 1800s, corn was planted by hand in hillocks or rows. Industrial technologies profoundly affected agriculture with many patent machines like this horse-drawn planter designed by Calvin Olds. In a language typical for other devices of the…

The Old North Church towers over a dismal, darkened street. A break of sunlight gradually illuminates the peaks of the buildings, sidewalk near the church, and the almost nonvisible side of the church’s steeple. There is a hazy quality to the…

The structures depicted here are in all likelihood those of the Theron Higgins Mill located alongside the Little River in Worthington, MA. They’re rendered in a somewhat telescopic view so as to compress a nearly impossible number of scenic elements:…

Cole's painting is very still and serene. There is virtually no movement--even the water is calm--and the air appears suffused with a hazy glow. The scene's imbalanced composition leaves a space for an implied sunrise or sunset at right. Cole's…

Sometimes called Low Point, Chelsea, NY is located north of the present-day Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. Dean’s etching shows the ruins of what had once been a thriving Hudson River industry, using mud from seasonal deposits. We see grass in the…

A vividly colored grouping avoids any appearance of symmetry or regularity of shape—even a painted plate isn’t circular. Likewise, mottling seems part of Preachen’s design as if to demonstrate that beauty can be irregular. Reds and oranges dominate…