City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard

The City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard is an 1833 oil painting by the American painter George Cooke.

The painting shows a view of Washington DC from Anacostia, across the Anacostia River. To the right of centre are the United States Capitol atop Capitol Hill, and the Washington Navy Yard, with two dry docks, in front of which is anchored a three-masted sailing vessel. To the left are the Washington Arsenal and White House, depicted larger than life to balance the Capitol building. The city around and between the main buildings is low rise, with two and three story houses. Further left is the Potomac River, and several smaller vessels are sailing on the two rivers. In the largely agricultural foreground are a few small buildings, a cart, a field with mounds of hay, and some sheep.

The painting was donated to the White House art collection in 1976, by the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. It was displayed in the Oval Office under the then-current and the next two administrations - Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. It was removed by George HW Bush but returned under Bill Clinton. To date, no subsequent president has brought the painting back to the Oval Office.

References

Selected Landscapes in the Collection of the White House of George W. Bush
Anacostia River Painting, White House Historical Association
City of Washington from beyond the Navy Yard, Engraving in the Library of Congress
City of Washington from beyond the Navy Yard, Aquatint in the Smithsonian American Art Museum
City of Washington from beyond the Navy Yard, White House Historical Association
City of Washington: From beyond the Navy Yard, aquatint in the National Gallery of Art

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