Description
Gifford’s view of Mount Hayes in New Hampshire records human intrusion into a remote landscape. On the left riverbank a log cabin stands amid a recently cleared patch of land with several tree stumps, while figures in its doorway greet a man who has arrived with a canoe of supplies.
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio (1970-); (Sloan & Roman, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (Late 1960s-1970); (The Terry DeLapp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, sold to Sloan & Roman)1 (c.1960-late1960s); (T. Gilbert Brouillette [1906-1970], Staten Island, NY, sold to the Terry DeLapp Gallery) 1 (Until c. 1960); James M. Hartshorne [d. 1887?], New York, NY? (By 1880); (M. Knoedler & Co., New York, NY) 1 (By 1867)
Accession Number
1970.162
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 114.9 x 173.7 x 16.5 cm (45 1/4 x 68 3/8 x 6 1/2 in.); Unframed: 76.8 x 135.7 cm (30 1/4 x 53 7/16 in.); Former: 96 x 154.5 x 9 cm (37 13/16 x 60 13/16 x 3 9/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund; The Butkin Foundation; Dorothy Burnham Memorial Collection and various donors by exchange
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
A Home in the Wilderness from 1866 depicts a solitary dwelling in the American wilderness, a subject that resonated deeply with a nation recovering from the Civil War. The painting's 1866 date places it in the immediate aftermath of the war, when the idea of a home in the wilderness carried associations of escape, renewal, and the possibility of starting over. Gifford's luminist treatment transforms the wilderness from a threatening environment into a welcoming one: the light falls gently on the clearing and the dwelling, creating a sense of peace and safety that belies the actual hardship of frontier life.
Cultural Impact
The home in the wilderness was one of the most powerful myths of 19th-century American culture, embodying the ideals of independence, self-sufficiency, and the taming of nature through settlement. Gifford's 1866 version carries the additional weight of the post-Civil War context: the wilderness home is not just a retreat from urban life but a refuge from the devastation of the war, and the luminist treatment suggests that nature itself offers solace and renewal.
Why It Matters
A Home in the Wilderness is Gifford's luminism applied to the myth of the frontier: the wilderness not as threat but as refuge, the clearing not as hardship but as home. The 1866 date gives the painting a post-Civil War resonance—the wilderness home as a place where the nation can start over, bathed in the gentle light of luminist hope.
