Indian Rock with Distant Clouds, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

Indian Rock with Distant Clouds, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island shows one of William Stanley Haseltine's favorite subjects: Indian Rock on the rocky shore between Narragansett Pier and Point Judith, south of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. This rendering depicts the rock outcropping from a slight distance and with an almost calm sea. In contrast to Haseltine's highly detailed graphite drawings and paintings of similar subjects, here he uses spare outlines and delicate washes to record the general arrangement of the blocky forms of the glaciated rocks and the tonal effects of shadows and clinging weed. The jutting mound of reddish rock earned its name because its color was said to be the stain of Native American blood, which the sea could not wash away. Haseltine's monochromatic view, however, is resolutely, scientifically dispassionate, avoiding any reference to historical legend. Haseltine was deeply influenced by contemporary interest in science and the notion of the artist as a revealer of deeper truths through the descriptive rendering of nature. In this regard, he followed the dictates of English art critic and social theorist John Ruskin (1819–1900), who advised artists to record the natural world with absolute fidelity to detail.

Indian Rock with Distant Clouds, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island is one of numerous studies Haseltine made on the Rhode Island shore during the summers of 1862 and 1863; another is Coastline, Narragansett, Rhode Island (TF 1999.63). Such careful drawings provided the basis for several equally detailed paintings that secured the artist's fame. In the early 1860s, Narragansett Pier, with its nearby beaches, was beginning to establish itself as a seasonal resort, and Indian Rock was a familiar landmark of the area. Haseltine's geologically specific views of the rocks served not only as souvenirs of a favorite vacation destination but as discourses on the earth's geologic origins, a subject that fascinated nineteenth-century Americans. Haseltine built his career on landscape paintings in which rock formations feature prominently, such as Rocks at Nahant (TF 1999.65).

William Stanley Haseltine, Davis & Langdale Company, Inc. New York, New York and Ben Ali Haggin, Inc., New York, New York, March 5–April 2, 1983, no. 10 (as Rocky Shore with Distant Clouds). [exh. cat.]

The Eden of America: Rhode Island Landscapes, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island (organizer). Venue: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, January 24–April 27, 1986. [exh. cat.]

Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

Wilmerding, John. William Stanley Haseltine (1835–1900): Drawings of a Painter. (exh. cat., Davis & Langdale Company, Inc.). New York: Davis & Langdale Company, Inc. in association with Ben Ali Haggin, Inc., 1983. Ill. no. 10 (black & white as Rocky Shore with Distant Clouds).

Workman, Robert G., Lloyd Goodrich and John Wilmerding. The Eden of America: Rhode Island Landscapes, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design). Providence, Rhode Island: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1986. Text pp. 46–47; ill. p. 47 (color).

Simpson, Marc, Andrea Henderson, and Sally Mills. Expressions of Place: The Art of William Stanley Haseltine. (exh. cat., The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). San Francisco, California: The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1992. Text pp. 20–21; fig. 6, p. 21 (black & white).