Thomas Doughty

View of Baltimore from Beech Hill, The Seat of Robert Gilmor, Jr.

1821

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Thomas Doughty

View of Baltimore from Beech Hill, The Seat of Robert Gilmor, Jr.

1821

Physical Qualities Oil on wood panel, Framed: 20 5/8 x 24 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. (52.4 x 61.6 x 8.9 cm) Sight: 12 1/8 x 15 5/8 in. (30.8 x 39.7 cm)

Credit Line Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Michael A. Abrams

Object Number 1955.183

At the turn of the 19th century, wealthy Baltimoreans often built villas that ringed the old city, offering splendid views of distant urban landmarks and the Chesapeake Bay. In this view from Robert Gilmor, Jr.’s estate, we can see from left to right the columnar Washington Monument before the statue of George Washington was erected in 1829; the small dome of the First Independent Church of Baltimore (Unitarian), dedicated in 1818; and the Roman Catholic Cathedral still under construction. It’s twin towers were added shortly after Thomas Doughty painted the scene. The spire of old St. Paul’s Church (1814 – 1817) punctuates the center of the canvas. St. Paul’s was destroyed by fire in 1854, but the other structures still stand in Baltimore. This picture was the first of at least six works by Doughty that Gilmor acquired. It retains its original frame.

Robert Gilmor, Ir., Baltimore; William Gilmor, Baltimore; possibly W. Gilmor Sale, Baltimore, 1863.
Dr. Willam al timor Baltimore; Crim Sale, Baltimore, 1903.
Dr. Michael A. Abrams, Baltimore, by 1941.

PM, Baltimore, Second Annual Exhibition of Paintings or Peale's Museum, 1823, no. 158 (as A Partial View of Baltimore, listed "For Sale." This may refer to a picture in the MFA, Boston).

BMA, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting," 1840-1940, June 6- Sept. 1, 1941, P. 26, PM.

Baltimore, "Paintings of Old Baltimore," Oct. 15-Nov. 16, 1941, no. 1.

BMA, "Two Hundred and Fifty. Years of Painting in Maryland," May-June 17, 1945, P. 45, no. 101, ill. p. 63.

Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, "An Exhibition Commemorating Robert Gilmor II of Baltimore," (1774-1848), Mar. 19-Apr. 24, 1949, checklist.

Peale Museum, Baltimore, "Rendezvous for Taste," Feb. 24-Apr. 22, 1956, p. 22, no. 15, ill.

BMA, "New Accessions," Summer 1957

William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, "Arts of the Young Republic: The Age of William Dunlap", Nov. 3-Dec. 1, 1968, n.p., no. 102, ill.

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Thomas Doughty, 1793-1856, "An American Pioneer in Landscape Painting," Oct. 19-Dec. 2, 1973, p. 2, no. 1, ill. pl. 1 (circulated to Washington, D.C. and Albany).

Maryland Historical Society, "Maryland Historical Prints", April 6 - June 15, 1976

Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, "Francis Guy and His Contemporaries: Views from Maryland," 1790-1830, Apr. 10-Aug. 15, 1981, p. 118.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, "Views and Visions: American Landscape Art Before 1830", January 7 - March 29, 1987

Maryland Historical Society, "Classical Maryland, 1815-1845", April 16 - September 25, 1993, ill. p. 52

The Walters Art Museum, "New Eyes on America: The Genius of Richard Caton Woodville," March 2, 2013 - June 2, 2013.

Sona K. Johnston, "American Painting 1750-1900 from the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," 1983, pp. 46-48, ill. p. 47 .

Baltimore Museum of Art. The American Wing. Brochure. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, [198-?], unpaged.

Henry Wiencek, "The Smithsonian Guide to Historica America Virginia and the Capital Region", New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989, pp. 314-315, ill. p. 315.

Gregory R. Weidman and Jennifer F. Goldsborough, "Classical Maryland 1815-1845: Fine and Decorative Arts from the Golden Age", Maryland Historical Society, 1993, ill. 52, fig. 63.

Washington D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art, "Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945," 2011, p. 94.

Joy Peterson Heyrman (ed), "New Eyes on America: The Genius of Richard Caton Woodville", 2013, Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum, p. 16.

Inscribed: I.r., "T[...]."