The Beeches
1845 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
📦 Free shipping on every order — or upgrade to Express ($14.9) at checkout. Most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days (Express 2–4).
About this work
- Artist
- Asher Brown Durand (1796–1886)
- Year
- 1845
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 153.4 × 122.2 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- Hudson River School
A path winds past a stand of tall beeches into a sunlit forest clearing, where sheep move along the track and warm golden light leads the eye deeper in; moss, damp earth and rough bark are painted with close attention. Durand painted it in 1845 for the New York collector Abraham Cozzens, a few years after a trip to England in 1840 where he studied Constable, whose influence shows in the handling of trees and sky. The upright format and pastoral calm mark a turn in the Hudson River School away from the sweeping drama of Thomas Cole towards quieter, more intimate communion with nature; a critic of the day called Durand's scenes quiet and gentle. Durand, an engraver before he was a painter, became the school's leading figure after Cole's death in 1848. The painting came to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1914 with the Jesup bequest.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A path winding past tall beeches into golden forest light with sheep on the track, a tall calm picture for a hallway, stairwell or reading corner at 24×36 in black or natural oak. Sage, cream or warm grey; it suits a house among trees.
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Hudson River School painting
- Era
- 19th century (1845)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, dining room, dorm room, hallway or entryway
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
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 The Beeches in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Beeches painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.











