Artwork
John Trumbull
John Trumbull is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Asher Brown Durand. It dates from 1833 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
The fine lines—called cross-hatching—build up shadows and texture without a single brushstroke.
This engraving shows a serious man in a dark coat, his face lit from the side. His name is John Trumbull, a painter and soldier from the American Revolution.
Durand made this print in 1833, years after Trumbull painted his famous scenes of the war. The fine lines—called cross-hatching—build up shadows and texture without a single brushstroke. It’s like a pencil drawing carved into metal.
If you like how lines can shape a face, look up the technique: cross-hatching.
Overview
This 1833 copper engraving, executed by the American artist Asher Brown Durand, presents a portrait of John Trumbull. Rendered in black ink on paper, the image captures the sitter in a dark coat, his face illuminated from one side, conveying a solemn demeanor.
Subject & Meaning
John Trumbull, the subject, was both a painter of Revolutionary War scenes and a veteran of that conflict. The portrait underscores his dual identity as an artist and soldier, reflecting the respect accorded to a figure who documented the nation’s founding events while having served in them.
Technique & Style
Durand employed fine cross‑hatching to build tonal values, a method that layers intersecting lines to suggest shadow and texture. Executed by incising the design into a metal plate and printing onto paper, the technique yields a drawing‑like quality without any brushwork, emphasizing the precision of line over color.
History & Provenance
Created several decades after Trumbull’s most celebrated war paintings, the engraving was produced during a period when Durand was establishing his reputation as a leading engraver. It entered the American Wing collection of the museum, where it remains part of the institution’s holdings of early 19th‑century American printmaking.
Artist & collection
Artist
Asher Brown Durand spent his life in the rolling hills of New Jersey, where the forests and farmland shaped his quiet, deliberate way of seeing.
