Devil's Gate on the Sweetwater
Artist
Alfred Jacob Miller
(American, 1810 - 1874)
Datec. 1837
Mediumwatercolor with pencil, glaze, oil, and white highlights on paper
Dimensions7 1/16 x 10 1/16 inches (17.9 x 25.6 cm)
Frame: 15 3/8 × 18 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (39.1 × 46.4 × 2.9 cm)
Frame: 15 3/8 × 18 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (39.1 × 46.4 × 2.9 cm)
Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965
Object number31.34.35
ClassificationsPaintings
Label TextMiller conveyed the power of the western landscape in his depiction of Devil’s Gate. The site is a narrow cleft in the towering granite rocks, caused by the erosion of the Sweetwater River. The spot was a landmark along the Oregon Trail. Travelers welcomed the sight of it, knowing they reached another stop on their journey. Miller’s depiction of light breaking through the cleft created a romantic aura.
ProvenanceCarrie C. Miller, Annapolis, Maryland; (Edward Eberstadt & Sons, New York, New York) [1]; purchased February 10, 1958 by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art
| 1. “We have been some ten or a dozen years amassing the rest of this collection from various individuals who were direct descendents[sic] of the pioneer artist himself.” (excerpt from a letter to H.J. Lutcher Stark from Charles Eberstadt, dated November 26, 1957)
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