Nantucket Sand Dune
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Nantucket Sand Dune” now? Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 10A, Washington, D.C. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
RoomLuce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 10A
Open now· until 7:00 PM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
This painting was originally attributed to Abbott Handerson Thayer, but closer study reveals it to be by Philadelphia artist Charles Morgan McIlhenney. McIlhenney exhibited a few times at the Boston Art Club and spent time sketching on Nantucket, probably in the late 1880s. Many painters in the late nineteenth century went on sketching trips to New England, creating images of the unsheltered beaches and picturesque towns along the coast. The dark clouds in this oil sketch emphasize the bright sandy slopes and, together with the windswept vegetation, create a haunting view of the Atlantic shore.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1981.62
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0
