The Sea

John Frederick Kensett

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This contemplative seascape likely depicts the Long Island Sound from Contentment Island, Darien, Connecticut, where Kensett lived and worked from 1867 until his death in 1872. In this boldly simplified composition, the artist distilled nature to its most essential elements—land, sea, and sky—the last covering two-thirds of the canvas. Small sailboats dot the horizon, creating the illusion of depth and emphasizing the limitlessness of the ocean. Such views were widely popular with urban collectors, who often sought out meditative idealizations of nature as antidotes to fast-paced city life.

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