Tennessee 1866 By Alexander H Wyant Poster

Tennessee 1866 is a painting by Alexander H. Wyant. Wyant, a native of Ohio, painted Tennessee after his 1865 trip to Europe, where he had studied with the Norwegian artist Hans Fredrik Gude. The composition shows his transition from the precise, linear technique of the Hudson River School at midcentury to the freer style, inspired by the Barbizon landscape painters, that characterized his later work. The subject is unusual in that it was painted during the Civil War, at a time when Northern landscape artists avoided portraying the Southern states. While there is no record of the artist’s visiting Tennessee, he spent time in nearby Kentucky during his career. Although this artwork is digitally restored, the cracks and the fine lines are left intact on this painting to honour the time this painting emerged from.