Daniel Ridgway Knight - His Years at Rolleboise
Click on a painting below to start the exhibition
Clair du luneDaniel Ridgway KnightClair du lune Friendly AdviceDaniel Ridgway KnightFriendly Advice GossipsDaniel Ridgway KnightGossips
Julia Among the June RosesDaniel Ridgway KnightJulia Among the June Roses Le jardin négligéDaniel Ridgway KnightLe jardin négligé Madeleine & Maria on the TerraceDaniel Ridgway KnightMadeleine & Maria on the Terrace
Maria by the RiverDaniel Ridgway KnightMaria by the River Maria Gathering FlowersDaniel Ridgway KnightMaria Gathering Flowers On the Terrace, RolleboiseDaniel Ridgway KnightOn the Terrace, Rolleboise
Sur la Terrasse (Maria and Madeleine)Daniel Ridgway KnightSur la Terrasse (Maria and Madeleine) The WoodcutterDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Woodcutter's Breakfast ConfidenceDaniel Ridgway KnightConfidence
On the Terrace at RolleboiseDaniel Ridgway KnightOn the Terrace at Rolleboise La Petite JardinièreDaniel Ridgway KnightLa Petite Jardinière Picking PoppiesDaniel Ridgway KnightPicking Poppies
Among the PoppiesDaniel Ridgway KnightAmong the Poppies Partant pour le TravailDaniel Ridgway KnightPartant pour le Travail Les CerisiersDaniel Ridgway KnightLes Cerisiers
MeditationDaniel Ridgway KnightMeditation Martha, A Days SportDaniel Ridgway KnightMartha, A Days Sport Picking PoppiesDaniel Ridgway KnightPicking Poppies
ChrysanthemumsDaniel Ridgway KnightChrysanthemums Maria on the Terrace with a Bundle of GrassDaniel Ridgway KnightMaria on the Terrace with a Bundle of Grass The Grass CutterDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Grass Cutter
Reverie de Soir (Maria on the Terrace, Rolleboise)Daniel Ridgway KnightReverie de Soir (Maria on the Terrace, Rolleboise) The GossipsDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Gossips Maria and Madeleine on the TerraceDaniel Ridgway KnightMaria and Madeleine on the Terrace
Sur la TerrasseDaniel Ridgway KnightSur la Terrasse The Pet DoveDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Pet Dove Gathering RosesDaniel Ridgway KnightGathering Roses
GossipsDaniel Ridgway KnightGossips Returning HomeDaniel Ridgway KnightReturning Home In the GardenDaniel Ridgway KnightIn the Garden
At Poissy Daniel Ridgway KnightAt Poissy 'Your Health' The Flower GirlDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Flower Girl The FishermanDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Fisherman's Daughter
Afternoon Sun, RolleboiseDaniel Ridgway KnightAfternoon Sun, Rolleboise By the RiversideDaniel Ridgway KnightBy the Riverside Maria on the TerraceDaniel Ridgway KnightMaria on the Terrace
The Village SeamstressDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Village Seamstress Waiting for the FerrymanDaniel Ridgway KnightWaiting for the Ferryman Lecon de DanseDaniel Ridgway KnightLecon de Danse
En VendangesDaniel Ridgway KnightEn Vendanges Le DejeunerDaniel Ridgway KnightLe Dejeuner Julia - Corner of the GardenDaniel Ridgway KnightJulia - Corner of the Garden
Julia Gathering RosesDaniel Ridgway KnightJulia Gathering Roses Girl Picking PoppiesDaniel Ridgway KnightGirl Picking Poppies Dolce Far NienteDaniel Ridgway KnightDolce Far Niente
Polishing the UrnDaniel Ridgway KnightPolishing the Urn WatchingDaniel Ridgway KnightWatching The SignalDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Signal
Gathering FlowersDaniel Ridgway KnightGathering Flowers Maria, By the SeineDaniel Ridgway KnightMaria, By the Seine Time to RestDaniel Ridgway KnightTime to Rest
Jeanne sur la terrasseDaniel Ridgway KnightJeanne sur la terrasse Madeleine in a Wheat FieldDaniel Ridgway KnightMadeleine in a Wheat Field Cutting RosesDaniel Ridgway KnightCutting Roses
The DayDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Day's Catch At the WaterDaniel Ridgway KnightAt the Water's Edge (Girl with Copper Jug) The LessonDaniel Ridgway KnightThe Lesson
A Pensive MomentDaniel Ridgway KnightA Pensive Moment QuiétudeDaniel Ridgway KnightQuiétude Contemplation, The DayDaniel Ridgway KnightContemplation, The Day's End

Daniel Ridgway Knight's works represent so many aspects of Nineteenth-Century painting, including history, genre, landscape, portrait, and floral themes. In each work, all that is aesthetic is recorded with fine detail and skill.

In order to faithfully record the scenery, Knight studied the different phases of the day and their effects on the environment. Knight built a glass studio outside of his home, enabling him to paint outdoors, even in the dead of winter. Whether he was concentrating on the evening with the glow of moonlight upon the Seine River, or on a young woman in a brightly colored flower garden at midday, each scene is depicted with great detail and with specific attention to a realistic portrayal of the landscape.

Daniel Ridgway Knight was born on March 15, 1839, in Pennsylvania. He studied and exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he was a classmate of Mary Cassatt and Thomas Eakins. In 1861, he went to Paris to study at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel, and to apprentice in the atelier of Charles-Gabriel-Gleyere.

He returned to Philadelphia in 1863 to serve in the Union Army. During the war, Knight practiced sketching facial expressions and capturing human emotion in his work. He sketched battle scenes, recording the war for history. He founded the Philadelphia Sketch Club, where he showed works that dealt with the Civil War, mythology, and scenes from opera. In 1871 Knight married Rebecca Morris Webster and after the wedding, he began working as a portrait painter in order to make enough money to return to France.

In 1872, once settled in France, Knight befriended Renoir, Sisley, and Wordsworth, all of whose influences can be seen in his work. He also enjoyed a close relationship with Meissonier. In 1875 he painted a painting called Wash Day (35 1/2" x 51 1/4") after a sketch by Meissonier for which he received critical acclaim. Knight was also strongly affected by the works of Jean-Francois Millet. In 1874 while painting in Barbizon, Knight went to visit Millet and found his view of peasant life to be too fatalistic. As opposed to Millet, Knight focused on depicting the rural classes during their happier moments. Other important influences were Bastien-Lepage, with whom he is most often compared and Jules Breton for his plein-air style.

Knight's works during the 1870's and 1880's focused on the peasant at work in the field's or doing the day's chores - collecting water or washing clothes at the riverside. His painting Hailing the Ferry, painted in 1888 and currently in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, depicts two peasant girls calling for the ferryman on the other side of the river. This work, considered one of the artist's masterpieces, captures all the elements of his pre-Rolleboise period - the subdued light and color, the finely detailed figures and the artist's acute attention to detail.

By the mid-1890s, Knight established a home in Rolleboise, some forty miles west of Paris. Here he began to paint the scenes that were to make his work so sought after by contemporary collectors - views of his garden. His home had a beautiful garden terrace that overlooked the Seine - a view he often used in his paintings. Collectors from across the globe vied for these works which featured pretty local girls in his garden. Works from this period include The Roses currently in the collection of the J.B. Speed Museum and The Letter in the Joslyn Art Museum - both of which feature pretty young women surrounded by lush flora.

Knight received a third class medal at the Salon in 1888 for Hailing the Ferry and a Gold Medal at the Munich Exhibition that same year. In 1889 he was awarded a Silver Medal at the Paris Exposition and was knighted in the Legion of Honor, becoming an officer in 1914. In 1896 he received the Grand Medal of Honor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Daniel R. Knight died in Paris on March 9, 1924.

Selected works by Daniel Ridgway Knight in U.S. public collections:

The Burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (1867) - The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD.
Scene from Faust - Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ.
Peasants Lunching in a Field (1875) - Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA.
Market at Poissy (1876) - The Museum at Drexel University, Phil., PA.
At the Well (1880) - Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Rural Courtship (n.d.) - Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK.
Waiting for the Ferry (1885) - Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY
Noonday Meal (1887) - Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA.
Hailing the Ferry (1888) - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Phil., PA.
The Water Carriers (1892) - Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI.
The Shepherdess (1896) - Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Trysting Place (n.d.) - Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA.
Springtime (n.d.) - Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.
The Gossips (n.d.) - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA.
Noonday Meal (n.d.) - Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA.
Life is Sweet (n.d.) - Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.
Landscape at Sewickley, PA. (n.d.) - Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT.
The Idler (n.d.) - Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH.
Girl by a Stream (n.d.) - Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN.
Brittany Girl Fishing (n.d.) - Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL.
French Thrift - Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NB.

Literature:

Americans in Brittany and Normandy, 1860-1910, Phoenix Art Museum.

A Pastoral Legacy: Paintings and Drawings by the American Artists Ridgway Knight and Aston Knight, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Cornell University 1989.

Weinberg, H. Barbara, The Lure of Paris, Nineteenth Century American Painters and Their French Teachers, Abbeville Press Publishers, N.Y., 1991, Pgs 63-66.

Weisberg, Gabriel P., Redefining Genre: French and American Painting, 1850-1900, The Trust for Museum Exhibitions, 1995, Pg. 69-71. Catalogue for the traveling exhibition: Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN., Sept. - Dec. 1995; Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL., Jan. - Feb. 1996; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA., Feb. - April 1996; Meridian International Center, Washington, D.C., May - July 1996

Weisberg, Gabriel P., Collecting in the Gilded Age: Art Patronage in Pittsburgh, 1890-1910, Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA., 1997, Balding + Mansell, Kettering.


This essay is copyrighted by Rehs Galleries, Inc. and may not be reproduced or transmitted without written permission from Rehs Galleries, Inc.