Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2009.44 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Fairmount Water Works with Boaters |
Artist |
Wild, John Caspar |
Date |
ca. 1834 |
Description |
View of Fairmount Water Works from the west bank of the Schuylkill River. The Works extend from the center middle ground to the right, and include a three-story Federal-style brick building with four chimneys, and the long neoclassical Mill House decorated with sculpture. A dirt hill with green shrubbery and steps rises in the right background, leading to a white gazebo surrounded by green trees. Lemon Hill Mansion is visible in the left background, above the riverbank and behind the dam. Two riverbanks in front of the waterworks, one of the right side of the painting and the other to the left, are adorned with saplings. Water spills into the Schuylkill from ducts at the bottom of the waterworks. On the river, below the dam, are three wooden boats with passengers. A portion of the west riverbank is visible in the lower left corner. Signed "From Nature by Wild" in the lower left corner. |
Label |
The Fairmount Waterworks was an iconic landmark and tourist destination in 19th-century Philadelphia. Conceived by Frederic Graff, a former assistant to architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the Waterworks combined technological achievement with an aesthetically pleasing design. In 1822, pumping engines powered by waterwheels replaced the previous dangerous and inefficient steam engines at the Fairmount site, providing the city with safe, drinkable water from the Schuylkill River. The old Engine House became a restaurant to accommodate the multitude of tourists who visited the site. Celebrated as a prime example of the blending of nature and technology, the Waterworks was depicted frequently in paintings, drawings, prints, and even on porcelain. This gouache by Swiss-born artist John Caspar Wild depicts boaters enjoying the Waterworks architecture below the Schuylkill River dam. Like many of Wild's city views, this gouache may have been published later as a lithographic print. |
Medium |
Gouache on paper |
Dimensions |
H-25.5 W-32.375 inches |
Dimension Details |
Framed |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society |
Search Terms |
19th century nineteenth century painting Philadelphia landscape |