Rip Van Winkle

1829

John Quidor
American, 1801–1881

One of the most original literary painters of the mid-19th century, John Quidor frequently drew on the popular tales of the American author Washington Irving, interpreting them with great imagination and a genuine flair for drama. Quidor’s Rip Van Winkle depicts the moment that Rip, awake after his 20-year sleep in the Catskill Mountains, confronts the suspicious townsfolk who do not recognize their long-lost neighbor. Unlike many portrayals of Rip Van Winkle that emphasize his age and confusion, Quidor’s version casts Rip as strong and defiant. Gesturing forcefully at his son (who is slumped against a tree), Rip acts to regain his sense of belonging in a now-unfamiliar world.

Status: On View, Gallery 172
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: John Quidor
Title: Rip Van Winkle
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1829
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 69.9 × 87.3 cm (27 1/2 × 34 3/8 in.)
Credit Line: George F. Harding Collection
Reference Number: 1982.765
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/97873/manifest.json

Celia L. Ruder, “John Quidor and Washington Irving: The Outcast and the Hero” (MA Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1966), 89-90.
David M. Sokol, John Quidor, Painter of American Legend, exh. cat. (Wichita Art Museum; University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1973), 80 (ill.), dated incorrectly as 1867.
Christopher Kent Wilson, “The Life and Work of John Quidor” (PhD diss, Yale University, 1982), 51-52, 261-262.
Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1983), 7 (ill.).
Christopher Kent Wilson, “John Quidor’s The Return of Rip Van Winkle at the National Gallery of Art: The Interpretation of an American Myth,” American Art Journal 19, no. 4 (Autumn 1987): 44, n. 13.
Ross Barrett, Rendering Violence: Riots, Strikes, and Upheaval in Nineteenth–Century American Art (University of California Press, 2014), ill. cover, 40 (ill.).

New York, National Academy of Design, Annual Exhibition, 1829, cat. 8.

With Macbeth Gallery, New York, Sept. 30, 1939 [Artist Registers, 1939–1954, box 107, folder 2, page 11, no. 82, Macbeth Gallery Records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC]; consigned to the Downtown Gallery, New York, Nov. 29, 1940 [receipt dated Nov. 29, 1940, copy in curatorial object file]. George F. Harding Museum, Chicago, by 1966 [according to Ruder 1966]; transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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