Browse Items (1400 total)

A portrait of Henry David Thoreau, taken in 1861.

An environmentally surreal scene, depicting two men in formal clothing, pulling artificial grass over barren land.

The pleasing daisies in a vase at center may give this painting its name, so artfully have they been created and arranged. If so, their status as humble field flowers plays against the ornate, patterned background and checkerboard table. Beautifully…

Some elements of this watercolor are abstract and patterned: the green leaves at left, the tablecloth, wallpaper background, and even the vase’s outline. Other elements, however, show careful attention to modeling and texture, like the orange. Palter…

Two adjacent types of painting—still life and domestic “genre”—blur in this creatively arranged scene. At right, staples of the still life tradition like fruits, flowers, and drapery are displayed on a table. Yet there also is a child’s toy, and it…

Underneath the shelter of a large tree in winter, one fox rejoins what is likely its mate with a bird in hand—perhaps a grouse. Underneath the paws of the other fox appears to be a rabbit...a good day of hunting! Palmer’s somewhat implausible…

This item consists of three images from a NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) management plan for a 750-acre area located in Ontario County. Much of the land had been used for agricultural production, with resulting soil exhaustion,…

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…

Perhaps influenced by geocentric cosmologies, earth is divided in four quandrants: two on land (a prickly pear cactus and a fire), and two under water. Surrounding the planet are four nested spheres: a rainbow of multicultural colors, upon which…

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:…