Sketch of a Country Scene (from Sketchbook) 1857 - 1867

This delicate graphite sketch of a country scene is by Thomas Hewes Hinckley, who worked in the 19th century. Hinckley, raised in a family of means, had the freedom to pursue a career in art. This sketch is of an uncultivated scene, trees and a glimpse of the horizon, but it speaks volumes about the cultural values of the time. Landscape art during the 1800s was often tied to ideas of national identity and expansion. Artists visually laid claim to territories, reflecting not just the beauty of nature, but also the socio-political drive to dominate and cultivate land, often at the expense of Indigenous populations and enslaved people. Hinckley’s work reflects an intimate engagement with nature, one that romanticizes a vision of pastoral life, while perhaps obscuring the complex histories embedded within the American landscape. This drawing invites us to reflect on the stories landscapes tell, and the untold stories they carry.