Skating at Medford

Artist Joseph Morviller (American, 1800-1870)

Date1865

DimensionsFrame: 58 5/16 × 38 1/8 × 3 1/8 in. (148.1 × 96.8 × 7.9 cm)
Canvas: 52 3/16 × 32 1/8 in. (132.6 × 81.6 cm)

MediumOil on canvas.

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Rike

Object number

1964.58

Not on View

Collections

Paintings

Published References"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 2, 1966, p. 166, repr. p. 178.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, American Paintings, Toledo, 1979, p. 84, pl. 37.

Taylor, Bradley L., "The Effect of Surrogation on Viewer Response to Expressional Qualities in Works of Art," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 2001, pl. A4, p. 173.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Treasures of Toledo, 1964.Label TextLittle is known about Joseph Morviller, who was born and received his artistic training in France before moving to the Boston area in 1852. His speciality was winter landscape paintings. During his lifetime, he was considered the best snow painter in America. His later works, like this one, show a concern with the atmospheric effects of light, especially seen here with the setting sun. Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of UncleTom's Cabin, wrote of Morviller that he captures,"...the dreamy, misty delicacy of our snowy winter landscapes."