Provenance
(Sale, Shannon's Fine Arts Auctioneers, Milford, Connecticut, 29 October 2015); purchased by (Godel & Co., New York) for William H. [1929-2020] and Abigail Booth Gerdts, New York;[1] gift 2018 to NGA.
[1] Per documentation from Abigail Booth Gerdts provided with the gift, in NGA curatorial files.
Accession Number
2018.44.134
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
overall: 38.1 × 45.72 cm (15 × 18 in.) | framed: 52.39 × 59.69 × 8.26 cm (20 5/8 × 23 1/2 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of William and Abigail Gerdts
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting American
Background & Context
Background Story
Henry Inman (1801-1846) was an American painter known for the portraits and genre paintings that make him one of the most important painters of the early American tradition. Rip Van Winkle Awakening from his Long Sleep from 1823 depicts the famous scene from Washington Irving's story in the narrative manner that distinguishes Inman's best genre work from the more general painting of his contemporaries. The story of Rip Van Winkle—who slept for twenty years in the Catskill Mountains—is one of the most famous stories in American literature, and Inman's 1823 painting is one of the earliest visual representations of this important American subject.
Cultural Impact
Rip Van Winkle Awakening from his Long Sleep is important in the history of American painting because it is one of the earliest visual representations of one of the most famous stories in American literature. The story of Rip Van Winkle—written by Washington Irving in 1819—is one of the foundational stories of American literature, and Inman's 1823 painting shows how this important American literary subject was being visualized by one of the most important painters of the early American tradition.
Why It Matters
Rip Van Winkle Awakening from his Long Sleep is Inman's early American genre painting: the famous scene from Washington Irving's story rendered by one of the most important painters of the early American tradition. The 1823 painting is one of the earliest visual representations of one of the most famous stories in American literature.
