Portsmouth Street Scene

Details

Descriptive Terms

landscapes (representations)
paintings (visual works)
canvas
gesso
oil paint (paint)
wood (plant material)
Picture
Landscape
Landscape

Label

"Cherished Possessions": The peaceful townscape depicted here, with pedestrians conversing in the street while a dog strolls idly by, is today a busy intersection with a traffic light in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The painting reflects the growth patterns of many New England towns, with densely spaced older buildings at the core, surrounded by an outer ring of larger lots and wider streets. All three of the houses in the picture, an 1845 Gothic Revival cottage and two eighteenth-century buildings, still stand today, two of them much altered, while the white house in the center, the John Paul Jones House, remains much the same and is now a historic house museum.
"Artful Stories": Because early religious leaders required that families reside near the meeting house, New England towns developed as a series of closely settled communities. Later, densely spaced older buildings at the core of many of these towns were surrounded by an outer ring of larger lots and wider streets like the ones depicted here. Today, this peaceful townscape is a busy intersection with a traffic light in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Associated Building

Subject John Paul Jones House,

Maker

Titcomb, William H., 1823-1888 (Artist)

Location of Origin

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States

Dimensions

28 x 35 7/8 (HxW) (inches)

Credit Line

Gift of Ralph May

Accession Number

1971.657

Places

New Hampshire (United States)
Portsmouth (Rockingham county, New Hampshire)