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Identification and Creation

Object Number
8.1955.175
People
Washington Allston, American (Georgetown, SC 1779 - 1843 Cambridge, MA)
Title
Old Man Resting against a Rock
Other Titles
Former Title: Oval Landscape: Bearded Old Man with Hat, Asleep Against a Rock
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1799-1800
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/305670

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink and gray wash on off-white laid paper
Dimensions
12 x 18.5 cm (4 3/4 x 7 5/16 in.)
image (oval):: 8.6 x 12.1 cm (3 3/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: verso, black ink, in artist's hand: [entirely crossed out:] Steal, soft enchantress, over my soul / Mould every thought to thy control. / Then bear me to some lonely brook / Where sings the ear-delighting rook; / There on the willowy bank reclin'd // Bent o'er the wave, as softly sighs / Its gentle murmur to the passing wind, / With pensive joy my waking eyes / Shall feed the tide. / And find a [ ] in [ ] tear.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
To the artist's wife Martha Dana Allston at his death, 1843; to the Washington Allston Trust, 1862.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Loan from The Washington Allston Trust
Object Number
8.1955.175
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Kenyon Castle Bolton, III, "The Drawings of Washington Allston: A Catalogue Raisonné" (Ph.D. Diss., Harvard University, 1977), no. 144A, reproduced in b/w fig. 391
  • William H. Gerdts and Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., "A Man of Genius": The Art of Washington Allston (1779-1843), exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, MA, 1979), p. 207, cat. 73, ill.

Exhibition History

  • "A Man of Genius": The Art of Washington Allston (1779-1843), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 12/12/1979 - 02/03/1980; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 02/28/1980 - 04/27/1980

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu