Approaching Thunder Storm
1859 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904)
- Year
- 1859
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 71.1 × 111.8 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- Hudson River School
A man and his dog sit on the shore of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, their backs to the sun, watching a wall of black cloud advance over the water; a thin bolt of lightning flickers at the left, a sail is spread on the ground beside them and a lone rower pulls for the shore. Heade based it on a sketch of a storm he had watched from Prudence Island around 1858 and painted it in 1859, his largest picture to that date; it was shown at the National Academy of Design in 1860. The eerie light on the land under a blackening sky, the ominous hush one critic described, has often been linked to the mounting tensions before the Civil War. Heade worked alongside Church in New York, and Church's long horizons left their mark here. The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired it in 1975.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A man and his dog watching a wall of black cloud advance over eerily lit water, for a study, den or coastal living room at 24×16 in black. Charcoal, pale grey or deep green; its hush suits a quiet room before a storm.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Hudson River School painting
- Era
- 19th century (1859)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- dramatic, moody
- Rooms
- living room, study or library, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Approaching Thunder Storm in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Approaching Thunder Storm painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
