Lake George, Free Study

John Frederick Kensett

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kensett restricted his palette in this small study of Lake George, in upstate New York, to a limited range of contrasting colors. He applied the paint thinly, and his brushwork created a uniformly textured surface. The restrained composition is interrupted at the right by a minute white sail and two rowboats, one with a brilliant patch of red, which provide a sense of scale.

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