Mount Tom, Massachusetts, USA

Creswick's view of Mount Tom, Massachusetts, painted around 1840, records the English landscape painter's engagement with American scenery during a period when transatlantic artistic exchange was flourishing. Mount Tom, overlooking the Connecticut River Valley, was a celebrated scenic attraction that drew numerous artists of the Hudson River School. Creswick's British perspective on American landscape provides an interesting counterpoint to the native tradition.

Creswick's oil-on-canvas technique applies his English landscape training to the American scene, with careful attention to the topographic features of the Connecticut River Valley. The palette and atmospheric handling reflect his characteristic style of precise naturalism combined with Romantic sensitivity to light.