Paper Trees

In his popular nineteenth-century drawing manual Lessons on Trees (1850), James Duffield Harding describes trees as among the most difficult of artistic subjects. Each root, trunk, branch, twig, and leaf is unique, making the depiction of both the collective appearance and the distinction between these elements an artistic challenge. Exploring the artist’s way of seeing the natural world, Paper Trees investigates the idea of the tree study in American art, from practice sketches made en plein air (in open air) to finished works in a variety of media.