Landscape with Waterfall and Figures (from Sketchbook) 1835 - 1839

Francis William Edmonds created this graphite landscape drawing as a page in a sketchbook. Edmonds, born in 1806, lived and worked in a rapidly changing America, a moment of westward expansion and industrial growth. The sketch depicts a scene that seems both untouched and subtly marked by human presence: a solitary figure stands by the water and a stark building is perched atop a rocky precipice. It evokes a sense of the sublime, echoing the grandeur of the American landscape as a space where one could seek both spiritual and economic renewal. But who had access to this landscape? Consider the perspectives of those displaced by this narrative of progress, such as Native Americans and enslaved people whose labor fueled the economy. How does Edmonds’ drawing affirm or complicate these historical dynamics? It is up to us to consider the complex layers of history inscribed in this seemingly simple landscape.