View on the West Mountain near Hartford c. 1791

John Trumbull made this landscape painting of the West Mountain near Hartford during an era defined by territorial expansion and evolving notions of national identity. Amidst the picturesque scenery, a lone figure and grazing cattle suggest a pastoral harmony, yet this belies the complex relationship between settlers and the land they inhabited. As the new republic expanded westward, representations of the landscape often served to both celebrate and mask the displacement of Indigenous peoples. Trumbull, an aide to General Washington during the Revolutionary War, was deeply embedded in this history. The subdued palette and tranquil composition encourage a sense of harmony, yet it is worth contemplating whose vision of America is being portrayed. Were the actual inhabitants of this land given the opportunity to represent their relationship to it? "View on the West Mountain near Hartford" invites us to consider whose stories are told and whose are overlooked in the forging of national narratives.