Who painted Maidstone, Vermont?

Maidstone, Vermont was painted by Albert Fitch Bellows in 1856.

Where can I see Maidstone, Vermont?

Maidstone, Vermont is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is Maidstone, Vermont?

Maidstone, Vermont is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

Maidstone, Vermont

Albert Fitch Bellows , 1856

Maidstone, Vermont is a gouache drawing by the Romanticist artist Albert Fitch Bellows. It dates from 1856 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

The white gouache (a thick, chalky paint) makes the light on the water pop against the brown paper.

A quiet Vermont hillside slopes into a creek, trees bare except for a few stubborn leaves. A wooden bridge crosses the water, and a tiny figure walks toward the far bank.

Bellows drew this in 1865, right after the Civil War. The empty landscape feels like a pause—no battlefields, just a single person moving forward. The white gouache (a thick, chalky paint) makes the light on the water pop against the brown paper.

If you like this quiet mood, look up landscapes, american.

Overview

Albert Fitch Bellows’s drawing *Maidstone, Vermont* presents a tranquil rural scene rendered in graphite and white gouache on a brown‑toned wove paper. The composition captures a gently sloping hillside that descends toward a modest creek, crossed by a simple wooden bridge. A lone figure is shown walking toward the opposite bank, emphasizing the solitude of the landscape.

Subject & Meaning

The work focuses on a quiet New England setting, where leaf‑bare trees cling to a few remaining leaves and the water reflects a subtle glow. The solitary traveler suggests a moment of contemplation or transition, inviting viewers to consider the passage of time and the calm that follows a period of upheaval.

Technique & Style

Bellows combines precise graphite line work with the opaque, chalk‑like quality of white gouache. The white pigment highlights the surface of the creek, creating a luminous contrast against the warm brown paper. This blend of drawing and painting aligns with mid‑nineteenth‑century American landscape practices, emphasizing atmospheric light and detailed natural observation.

History & Provenance

Created in the years following the American Civil War, the drawing reflects Bellows’s post‑war artistic output. Though the exact date varies among sources, it is generally placed in the mid‑1860s. The piece entered the American Wing collection of the museum, where it remains part of the institution’s representation of 19th‑century American landscape art.

Context

Bellows, a member of the Hudson River School circle, devoted his career to depicting the American wilderness. *Maidstone, Vermont* exemplifies his interest in modest, everyday scenery rather than grandiose vistas, aligning with a broader mid‑19th‑century shift toward more intimate, localized landscape subjects.