Name/Title
LOOSE LEAVES FROM A STRAY PORTFOLIOEntry/Object ID
L.2007.301Description
This trompe l'oeil illustration of scattered sketches includes images of the Old Dutch Church, Sunnyside and George Washington's colonial headquarters at Newburgh. As a group, the sketches show notable examples of architectural styles in the northeastern United States, many of which were located in the Hudson River Valley. The accompanying text imagines conversation among people examining the portfolio's contents after the artist has left it behind. The imagined conversation speaks to the attraction of the old buildings to the artistic eye: "There is no beauty about such dwellings! Why do artists draw them? Well, because they have the beauty of the picturesque." The historic sites of the Hudson Valley have long provided artistic inspiration.
Wood engraving of various views of buildings and boats overlapping as if on separate pages: on top left, oriented diagonally, a view of a gravestone and a tree in front of a stone building captioned: "SLEEPY HOLLOW OLD DUTCH CHURCH"; on top right, a view of a white building with a gambrel roof captioned: "OLDEST HOUSE IN NEW ENGLAND BUILT 1691"; below, on left, a view of two buildings, one stone and the other wooden, on a dock captioned: "NEWPORT OLD HOUSES ON WHARF"; on right, a view of two schooners surrounded by men holding poles standing in rowboats captioned: "OYSTER DREDGING"; below on left, a view of buildings on a peninsula and a sailboat captioned: captioned: "SANDY HOOK"; on right, a wooden structure, captioned: "TOLLGATE NEAR ALBANY"; below on left, a view of a woman standing under a wisteria-covered porch of a home, captioned: "SUNNYSIDE"; on right, a view of a white building with a small porch captioned: "WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS"; below these individual scenes, the outlines of pieces of paper; on bottom left, printed: "OTTO SC"; on bottom right, printed: "Will R Row 1873"; below the scenes, printed: "LOOSE LEAVES FROM A STRAY PORTFOLIO."; recto, a page of text.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Otto (?)Attribution
EngraverArtist
Will R. RowAttribution
ArtistDate made
Oct 4, 1873Dimensions
Dimension Description
OverallHeight
10-1/4 inWidth
7-5/8 inDimension Notes
Display Dimensions: 10 1/4 x 7 5/8 in. (26 x 19.4 cm)Condition
Notes
Remarks: Losses in corners; small tears along left edge; tear and crease, right center; writing in pencil, bottom right; circular light yellow stains, top left and top right.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
William DieboldNotes
Former ownerGeneral Notes
Note Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Diebold Box #23Note Type
General NoteNote
Published in Appleton's Journal, October 4, 1873, with an article imagining the conversation of a group of people examining the contents of "Mr. Crayon's" portfolio, left behind accidentally at boarding-house along the Hudson.Note Type
StorageNoteNote
Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Administrative Office, Archive Room, Shelf O3, B9Note Type
DepartmentNote
Library