Moonlit Cove
1880s · Oil on canvas · The Phillips Collection, Washington
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About this work
- Artist
- Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847–1917)
- Year
- 1880s
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 35.9 × 43.5 cm
- Collection
- The Phillips Collection, Washington
- Movement
- Tonalism
An empty boat lies moored in a small cove under a looming dark cliff, while a moon in a pale halo lights the cliff's edge and the water below with a greenish gold glow. Ryder reduced the scene to a few flat, simplified shapes, and the painting's mood of romantic mystery made it an icon for American modernists after it was shown at the 1913 Armory Show. Heavy oil on the back of the canvas has darkened it and the surface is finely crazed. Duncan Phillips bought it in 1924 and called it one of the world's great romantic pictures.
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 small, glowing green-and-gold night scene for a bedroom, study or reading nook in a dark wood frame. It suits charcoal, forest green or warm white walls at 16×24 and pairs with Ryder's Toilers of the Sea.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Tonalism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1880s)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- dramatic, moody
- Rooms
- bedroom, study or library, living room, dining room, dorm room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. 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 Moonlit Cove in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Moonlit Cove 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.
