By Daniel Fulco, Ph.D., Agnita M. Stine Schreiber Curator

To mark the special exhibition Art, Fashion, Symbol, Statement: Tattooing in America, 1960s to Today (on view through October 13, 2024), we hope that you enjoy this painting in our collection. If you visit the museum,this work is on view in the exhibition.\

Alexander Helwig Wyant (American, 1836–92)
A Gray Day, c. 1880s
Oil on wood panel
9.375″h x 12″w  
Collection of Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Albert R. Miller, Jr., A2683,91.0061

In this serene, reflective landscape, Alexander Wyant depicted a grove of trees along a river bank. Judging by the verdant foliage, the scene likely unfolds in late spring or summer. While most of the composition focuses on vegetation and natural surroundings, a small farmhouse is visible in the distance, alluding to human habitation nearby. Woodland subjects like this example were a favorite of the artist, who enjoyed painting en plein air (outdoors).

In his early career, Wyant worked in a more precise, Hudson River School style but later transitioned to Tonalism, influenced by the work of George Inness, British landscapists J.M.W. Turner and John Constable, and the French Barbizon artists. After 1866, Wyant gradually shifted to using paint more fluidly (often with loose, soft brushwork) and employing a color palette of white, gray, and earth tones. In his late paintings, the artist focused on representing bucolic, dreamy subjects, and capturing the moody, fleeting qualities of nature, as exemplified by A Gray Day.   

A native of Evans Creek, Ohio, Wyant, on the advice of Inness, secured the support of Cincinnati patron, Nicholas Longworth, which enabled him to study for a year at the National Academy of Design, New York. After studying with Norwegian painter, Hans Gude, at the Düsseldorf Academy in Germany, Wyant travelled throughout Europe in 1865. Later that year, he returned to America and exhibited his work at the National Academy of Design. The artist maintained a studio in New York and often summered in the Keene Valley of the Adirondack Mountains. While participating in a government-sponsored expedition to New Mexico and Arizona, Wyant unfortunately suffered a stroke, which resulted in paralysis to his right arm and hand. Nevertheless, he sought to overcome his condition by teaching himself to paint with his left hand.   

The work of artists such as Wyant has influenced the studio paintings of Mike Adams, which are on display in the exhibition Art, Fashion, Symbol, Statement: Tattooing in America, 1960s to Today. In addition to making tattoos, Adams enjoys representing the beauty of the American landscape and the many moods it conveys. Inspired by the Hudson River School and Tonalism, Adams pays particular attention to capturing atmospheric perspective, the effects of light in the sky and on the water in his Untitled (2024) series. Like many other landscape painters, Adams works en plein air, recording his observations of nature firsthand.

Mike Adams (American, b. 1985)
Untitled, 2024
Acrylic on board
7.625 x 9.75 in
Collection of the artist

Untitled, 2024
Acrylic on board
9.625 x 7.625 in
Collection of the artist