Sunrise on the Water

Worthington Whittredge's masterfully refined and exquisite renditions of nineteenth century American landscapes are exceptionally articulate visions of nature. These compositions, complemented by the artist's use of light to convey emotion and romanticism, are among the best conceived of the nineteenth century. Sunrise on the Water is a stunningly meditative coastal scene, carefully rendered to portray the reflections of the glowing sun on the rushing waves. According to William H. Gerdts, "beach scenes of this nature are rare though not unknown in his work...[The clamdiggers] emphasize the life along the coast, in a manner relatively rare for the artist, and proves him a capable figure painter, unlike many fellow landscape painters in this country in the nineteenth century." (unpublished letter, 1986) Sunrise on the Water confirms the artist's assertion: "There is no denying the fact that the early landscape painters of America were too strongly affected by the prevailing idea that we had the greatest country in the world for scenery. Everybody talked of our wonderful mountains, rivers, lakes and forests, and the artists thought the only way to get along was to paint scenery. This led to much wandering of our artists. Simplicity was not in demand. It must be some display on a big canvas to suit the taste of the times. Great railroads were opened through the most magnificent scenery the world ever saw, and the brush of the landscape painter was needed immediately. Bierstadt and Church answered the need. For more homely scenery, this need was answered by a group of artists known as the Hudson River School—all of whom I knew and one of whom I was." (as quoted in Quiet Places: The American Landscape of Worthington Whittredge, p. 21)