Franconia Notch, New Hampshire

William Trost Richards

1872 · Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on light tan wove paper · The American Wing

Early Museum records identify this picture as “The Franconia Mountains from Campton, New Hampshire,” but Campton is miles from the site portrayed, the entrance to Franconia Notch. In the center is Mount Lafayette, flanked by Cannon Mountain and Eagle Cliff on the left and Mount Lincoln and Little Haystack on the right. The image reflects a tour of the White Mountains shared by Richards, the Reverend Elias L. Magoon (who donated this and 84 other watercolors to the Museum in 1880) and their wives in June 1872, and probably portrays the white-maned clergyman himself, absorbed in a book as he strolls the path in the foreground.

Artist

William Trost Richards

Date

1872

Medium

Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on light tan wove paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of The Reverend E. L. Magoon, D.D., 1880