Interior of Woods with Small Stream (from Cropsey Album) 1854

William Trost Richards made this intimate graphite drawing, Interior of Woods with Small Stream, sometime in the 19th century. It's a circular composition filled with a complex network of lines, capturing the density and depth of a wooded scene. Richards masterfully uses the graphite medium to create a range of textures and tones. The dense, tangled lines of the trees contrast with the softer, blurred rendering of the stream, which invites the eye to travel through the landscape. The drawing destabilizes the traditional landscape format by presenting it in a circular frame, challenging our perception of nature and representation. This formal choice emphasizes the artificiality of the image, reminding us that it is a constructed view rather than a direct transcription of nature. The composition, while seemingly natural, is carefully arranged, with the stream acting as a guiding line through the dense foliage. This creates a dynamic balance between the natural and the artificial, the wild and the contained. Richards thus prompts a deeper consideration of how we frame and understand the natural world through art.