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WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS

1833-1905

WILLIAM TROST RICHARDSOne of the most important 19th century American landscape and marine painters, William Trost Richards was born in Philadelphia in 1833. Naturally talented as a young man, he worked for a firm designing gas light fixtures. Later Richards took lessons in Philadelphia with German artist Paul Weber before traveling to Europe for further study, particularly at Dusseldorf, where he refined his precise drawing skills. In Europe, he was also strongly influenced by the ideals of the English Pre-Raphaelite painters, who espoused the meticulous and detailed rendering of the minutiae of nature in art.

In 1856, the artist married Anna Matlock and settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania. The couple had seven children, four of which survived.

Early in his career, in the tradition of the Hudson River School, Richards painted and sketched the unspoiled landscape in rural Pennsylvania, the Catskill and Adirondack Mountain ranges, and along the New Jersey Shore.

In the summer of 1874 Richards visited Newport, Rhode Island, and became enthralled with the area’s sublime coastline. He purchased his first of several Newport area homes in 1875 and continued to paint there for the rest of his life, dividing time between Newport and Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he purchased a farm near the Brandywine in 1884. Richards also enjoyed painting excursions to Europe, especially Britain and Ireland, where he produced an important body of work.

Richards was one of the few 19th century American landscape artists who was equally skilled as a watercolorist and a painter in oils. He also cherished his drawings, which are among the finest of his generation.

Richards died in Newport in 1905. Today, the artist is best remembered for the luminist seascapes, imbued with light and atmosphere, that he created along the Rhode Island, New Jersey and British coasts; though his landscapes are also very highly respected.

The subject of much scholarly and market attention in the recent past, Richards has been the focus of exhibitions in the last several years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; and the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York.

His work is found in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Gallery of Art; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; the Brooklyn Museum; the Corcoran Gallery of Art; the Portland Art Museum; the Seattle Art Museum; the Art Institute of Chicago; the St. Louis Art Museum; and the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University.

WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS

Artworks for Sale

British Coastal View RGB WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
British Coastal View

2 3/4 x 4 3/4 (sight size) 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 (paper size)
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WTR Lake Champlain  UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Lake Champlain 1855

3 3/8 x 11 3/8 inches; Framed:11 3/8 x 19 3/8 inches
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Near St Manta RGB WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Near St. Mana

3 3/8 x 5 15/16 inches; Framed: 11 ¼ x 13 ½ inches
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Ship Building RGB WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Ship Building

9 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches; Framed: 17 3/4 x 22 3/4 inches
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Landscape UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Landscape

2 13/16 x 5 11/16 inches; Framed:10 1/2 x 13 1/4
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WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Rowing at Moonlight

6 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches (sight size); Framed: 14 x 11 3/4 inches
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FLakeSideCliff WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Lake Side Cliff

4 3/4 x 7 1/2 inches; Framed: 16 3/8 x 21 3/8 inches
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Coastal View with Birds UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Coastal View with Birds

8 5/8 x 13 3/4 inches; Framed: 15 7/8 x 20 7/8 inches
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German Alpine Village UF scaled WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
German Alpine Village

5 1/8 x 7 1/2 inches; Framed: 16 3/8 x 21 3/8 inches
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FCoastalCliffs WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Coastal Cliffs

3 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches; Framed: 15 7/8 x 20 7/8 inches
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Trees  UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Trees 1853

9 x 6 1/2 inches; Framed: 16 3/8 x 21 3/8 inches
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FTreeVertical WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Tree Study 1880

14 x 9 7/8 inches; Framed: 21 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches
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Trees  UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Trees,1877

14 1/2 x 10 inches; Framed: 21 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches
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Study of a Tree RGB WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Study of a Tree

5 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches ; Framed: 14 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches
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Windblown Trees RGB WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Windblown Trees

6 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches; Framed: 11 1/2 x 19 3/4 inches
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Schroon River RGB WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Schroon River 1855

5 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches; Framed: 15 1/8 x 20 7/8 inches
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Lulworth Cove Dorset WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Lulworth Cove, Dorset 1879 (pair)

22 x 36 ½ inches, Framed: 30 x 44 ½ inches; Miniature: 3 x 5 inches, Framed: 12 ¾ x 16 inches
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Beach RGB WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Beach Drawing

3 1/2 x 6 inches; Framed: 10 1/2 x 13 3/8 inches
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Richards Seascape  UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Seascape, 1886

16 x 28 inches; Framed: 24 ½ x 36 ½ inches
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Rainbow WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
The Rainbow

40 x 72 inches
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RaceTheSea WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Race the Sea, My Sons 1876

10 x 14 ½ inches
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WTR Crashing Surf uf WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Crashing Surf

8 7/8 x 16 inches
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WTR Guernsey UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Guernsey

8 7/8 x 15 7/8 inches
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WTR Isle of Skye UF WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Isle of Skye

5 7/16 x 9 1/8 inches
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When First We Built Our Castles WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
When First We Built Our Castles by the Sea
8 ¼ x 13 ½ inches
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AfterStormyDay WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
After a Stormy Day
28 x 48 inches
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