Shawangunk Mt., Catskills, 1871 (from Sketchbook) 1870

Daniel Huntington made this sketch of the Shawangunk Mountains in the Catskills in 1871, using graphite on paper. Although this is a simple drawing, it’s actually quite revealing. Huntington was a successful portraitist, an artist who literally made his living by representing others. But here, in the privacy of his sketchbook, he turns his attention to the landscape. The graphite marks are light and quick, capturing the receding planes of the mountains. This wasn't a finished work, but rather a kind of visual note, made to capture the scene before him. What is most fascinating is the directness of the artistic gesture, unmediated by the need to flatter a patron or deliver a finished masterpiece. In this way, the sketch gives us insight into the artist’s direct experience. There is a real intimacy and immediacy to the image, a window into the artist's process of seeing and recording the world around him.