Forest Scene

Johann Hermann Carmiencke

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This drawing of broken and tangled trees is quite similar in style and subject to nature studies by Hudson River School draftsmen such as John F. Kensett, John W. Casilear, and Jasper F. Cropsey. These artists made numerous outdoor sketches of trees, rocks, or clouds in order to hone their draftsmanship and develop their powers of observation. Although this sheet was probably drawn after Carmiencke arrived in America from Denmark in 1851, the German-born artist had been making nature studies throughout his career. His approach was undoubtedly influenced by contemporary developments in northern European landscape painting, led by artists such as Carmiencke’s teacher Johan Christian Dahl, and fellow classmate at the Kustakademie, Caspar David Friedrich.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art