Swampscot Woods
Item
Title
Swampscot Woods
Creator
Francesca Alexander
American, 1837–1917
American, 1837–1917
Date
1851
Materials
Graphite on paper
Description
Francesca Alexander sketched these abbreviated tree trunks as a precocious teenager in Boston. Her family spent summers in Swampscott, an area northeast of the city, and Alexander retained a fondness for her childhood haunts even after they moved, in 1853, to Florence, Italy. She remained there the rest of her life, chronicling the local folklore and making subtle pen-and-ink drawings. In 1882, she was introduced to the English art critic John Ruskin, who subsequently championed Alexander’s black-and-white images of flowers and figures. The book Roadside Songs of Tuscany (1884), edited by Ruskin and lavishly illustrated by Alexander, furthered her association with the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
Source
The John Driscoll American Drawings Collection
Identifier
2018.89
Rights
This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses may not be permitted.