Artwork

An Alpine Landscape with a Couple Seated by Trees Overlooking a Valley

An Alpine Landscape with a Couple Seated by Trees Overlooking a Valley, by Benjamin West, ink, 1762
An Alpine Landscape with a Couple Seated by Trees Overlooking a Valley, by Benjamin West, ink, 1762

An Alpine Landscape with a Couple Seated by Trees Overlooking a Valley is an ink drawing by the Romanticist artist Benjamin West. It dates from 1762 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

An Alpine Landscape with a Couple Seated by Trees Overlooking a Valley is a drawing by Benjamin West, created in 1762 using pen and gray ink on light gray laid paper.

Subject & Meaning

The drawing depicts a serene valley surrounded by rolling hills, with a couple seated on a rock near two trees in the foreground and a small church to the left.

Technique & Style

West employed loose, sketchy lines and cross-hatching to capture the landscape's mood and texture, contrasting sharp foreground elements with fading background mountains.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Benjamin West

Artist

Benjamin West

American, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1738–1820 London

This work is in the public domain (CC0). Image source: National Gallery of Art open access. Spotted an error in this record? Tell us.