This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery. Please follow the links below for related online resources or visit our current exhibitions schedule.
A major retrospective exhibition featuring some 70 of the landscape paintings of Sanford R. Gifford (1823-1880) will present the richness and variety of his achievement and the special qualities of his distinctive style. While his art mirrors the general aesthetic of the Hudson River School, Gifford was a highly individual talent: during the 1850s he gradually evolved a personal style marked by a refined depiction of light and atmosphere. He traveled widely, not only through the American Northeast and West, but also in Europe and the Near East. The paintings that resulted from these experiences--including his A Gorge in the Mountains (formerly Kauterskill Clove, 1862, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Siout, Egypt (1874, National Gallery of Art)--not only depict diverse cultures and sights, both natural and man-made, but also rank among the most beautiful and elegant creations of their era.
