Isle of Arran, early morn

Thomas Miles Richardson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Richardson's interest in weather associated with specific times of day is demonstrated in this view of Arran, off Scotland's western coast. Cool horizontal overlays of blue and brown watercolor, supplemented with touches of white gouache, capture the appearance of Brodick Bay early in the day, as mist rises from the distant rocky peaks of Beinn Bhreac. A group of local fishermen rig their boat in the foreground, while a seabird skims the water nearby. In the distance, boats make use of an offshore breeze to set out in pursuit of the day's catch. When he made this drawing, Richardson was based in Newcastle, in the north of England, where he helped establish the city's first exhibiting Water-colour Society.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art