Artwork Details
32 x 38 in. (canvas) 37 x 43 x 2-3/4 in. (framed)
Accession NumberJohn Herron Fund
CopyrightAmerican Painting and Sculpture 1800-1945
Color PaletteProvenance
The Artist; purchased by the Art Association of Indianapolis for the John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1894 (94.1).
Gallery Labels
- Urban and rural spaces, past and present, intermingle in this now iconic portrait of downtown Indianapolis. A tree-lined branch of the Central Canal, a pioneer waterway built in the 1830s, foregrounds the city’s skyline, which is tinged lavender in the morning light.
- The last decades of the 19th century witnessed the construction of the city’s most recognizable monuments: the State Capitol and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Both structures are present in the picture, though the latter had not yet been completed.
- Gruelle was self-taught. He had been employed decorating iron safes in Cincinnati when he found his calling. In 1882 he relocated to Indianapolis and devoted his time fully to painting the city and its environs.
Exhibition History
Exhibition Name
Venue
Dates
In Indiana: Views of Indianapolis - Artistic Perspectives
Indianapolis Museum of Art
September 1, 1993 - January 30, 1994
The Passage: Return of Indiana Painters from Germany, 1880-1905
Indianapolis Museum of Art
November 24, 1991 - February 2, 1992
The Passage: Return of Indiana Painters from Germany, 1880-1905
Landesmuseum
February 24, 1991 - May 19, 1991
The Passage: Return of Indiana Painters from Germany, 1880-1905
Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud
November 14, 1990 - January 27, 1991
S.T.E.P.: Landscapes by Indiana Artists
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Columbus
May 23, 1982 - July 25, 1982
Indiana Idylls: 100 Years of Landscape Painting from the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Indianapolis Museum of Art
January 24, 1979 - March 31, 1979
The First Hundred Years of Indiana Painting
John Herron Art Institute and Museum
October 4, 1966 - November 13, 1966
Long-term Loan to Indianapolis Public Schools
Indianapolis Public Schools
April 29, 1957 - March 12, 1962
Long Term Loan to Spink Wawasee Hotel
Spink-Wawasee Hotel Corporation
May 6, 1932 - Date Unknown
Loan to Captain Francis Condor, Fort Benjamin Harrison
March 14, 1942 - Date Unknown
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