Gallery 24

Bierstadt’s warrior skillfully rides bareback on a rearing horse, ready to strike a struggling buffalo with his spear. His muscular body and athletic pose recall the classical conventions of ancient Greek sculpture. The scene takes place against the indistinct backdrop of an endless prairie and a flattened, cloud-filled sky. A second Native American on horseback rushes into view from the middle ground, attempting to aid the hunt with his arrow aimed at the burly beast.

Vedder’s interest in ancient Egypt was inspired in part by recent archaeological discoveries, including the 1858 excavation of the Great Sphinx at Giza. In Greek mythology, the sphinx—half woman and half lion—demanded that travelers answer her riddle, strangling those who failed. Surrounded by architectural ruins, a shipwreck, and the skulls of her victims, Vedder’s sphinx reflects the fascination with women as dangerous and erotic temptresses.

Vedder’s interest in ancient Egypt was inspired in part by recent archaeological discoveries, including the 1858 excavation of the Great Sphinx at Giza. In Greek mythology, the sphinx—half woman and half lion—demanded that travelers answer her riddle, strangling those who failed. Surrounded by architectural ruins, a shipwreck, and the skulls of her victims, Vedder’s sphinx reflects the fascination with women as dangerous and erotic temptresses.

Ryder’s 1882 visit to Tangier, Morocco, may have inspired this image of a solitary scout, dressed in a white cloak and holding a rifle at the ready. Typical of the artist’s visionary style, the horseman appears like a mirage coming out of a heat-seared desert landscape. This Orientalist subject may have been inspired by the earlier French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix, whose similar paintings were exhibited by Ryder’s New York art dealer.

Ryder’s 1882 visit to Tangier, Morocco, may have inspired this image of a solitary scout, dressed in a white cloak and holding a rifle at the ready. Typical of the artist’s visionary style, the horseman appears like a mirage coming out of a heat-seared desert landscape. This Orientalist subject may have been inspired by the earlier French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix, whose similar paintings were exhibited by Ryder’s New York art dealer.

Although some of Eakins’s portraits incorporate objects that help identify his sitters’ hobbies and occupations, portrait heads emphasize who they were as thinking and feeling human beings. Eakins probably perceived William Woolsey Johnson, a professor of mathematics at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as a kindred spirit, as he once observed, “All the sciences are done in a simple way; in mathematics the complicated things are reduced to simple things. So it is in painting.”

Although some of Eakins’s portraits incorporate objects that help identify his sitters’ hobbies and occupations, portrait heads emphasize who they were as thinking and feeling human beings. Eakins probably perceived William Woolsey Johnson, a professor of mathematics at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as a kindred spirit, as he once observed, “All the sciences are done in a simple way; in mathematics the complicated things are reduced to simple things. So it is in painting.”

Inspired by the Celtic Revival movement, which embraced Irish history, mythology, and folklore, this painting would have resonated with Americans of Irish heritage, including the artist. The subject’s flowing auburn hair and low-cut buckskin dress—combined with her role as a hunter, traditionally a male occupation—reflects the period’s fascination with women, preferably from the past, who challenged traditional gender roles.

Inspired by the Celtic Revival movement, which embraced Irish history, mythology, and folklore, this painting would have resonated with Americans of Irish heritage, including the artist. The subject’s flowing auburn hair and low-cut buckskin dress—combined with her role as a hunter, traditionally a male occupation—reflects the period’s fascination with women, preferably from the past, who challenged traditional gender roles.