The Smugglers' Cove

Albert Pinkham Ryder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This shore scene, painted on gilded leather, may have been done as a decorative commission, presumably early in the artist's career. The romantic subject matter and interest in the sea are typical of Ryder throughout his career. What is more unusual for him is the very thin paint application and the decisive brushwork. Beneath the pigment is a layer of gilt that enhances the texture and gives the painting its warm golden tone. The simplified forms of the houses anticipate modernist works of later American artists such as Charles Burchfield.

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