Worthington Whittredge painted The Lonely Graves after traveling west for the first time in the summer of 1866. Accompanying General John Pope’s expedition out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Whittredge traveled by horseback to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and then on to Colorado and New Mexico. Near Fort Kearney the artist sketched the graves of travelers buried on the plains and when he returned to his New York studio he produced this painting based on his on-the-spot oil study. “I had never seen the plains or anything like them,” he wrote. “They impressed me deeply. I cared more for them than for the mountains.” In depicting the simple graves, alone on the vast plains in somber light, Whittredge conveyed the transience of life and the power of the American landscape.

Object Creator

Whittredge, Worthington (American, 1820-1910)

Object Creation Date

ca. 1866

Medium

Oil on canvas

Object Type

Painting

Dimensions

8.75 x 16.5 "

Credit

George Walter Vincent Smith Collection

Accession Number

1.23.78

On View?

Yes

Image Request

Request Image for Reproduction