Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009232Point Judith, Rhode Island
About the Artwork
One of only a handful of nocturnal scenes painted by Heade, this evocative painting captures the effects of glimmering moonlight on land, sea, and sky. Although the artist depicts a specific location, his nighttime rendering shrouds most details in shadow, imparting a greater sense of mood than place. Human presence manifests itself through two sailing ships on the left side of the composition.
Inscriptions
Signed lower right: M.J. Heade
Provenance
1970-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio 1969-1970: (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) Probably 1969: James H. and Adeline [b. 1933] Anderson, consigned to Hirschl & Adler 1 1953-1969: Lucy Joseph Harris, Providence and Little Compton, RI, by descent to her daughter and son-in-law, Adeline and James H. Anderson 1944-1953: Benjamin P. Harris, Jr. [1901-1953], Providence, RI, by descent to his wife, Lucy Joseph Harris 1943=1944: Mona Elizabeth Tower Harris [1871-1944], Providence, RI, by descent to her son, Benjamin P. Harris, Jr. 1922-1943: Benjamin P. Harris, Providence, RI [1873-1943], by descent to his wife, Mona Elizabeth Tower Harris By 1898-1922: Sarah Bullock Harris [1834-1922], Providence, RI, by descent to her son, Benjamin P. Harris Thomas Harris [1825-1898], Providence, RI, by descent to his wife, Sarah Bullock Harris
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971). Heritage and Horizon: American Painting 1776 - 1976. Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY (organizer) (March 7-April 11, 1976); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (May 2-June 13, 1976); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (July 4-August 15, 1976); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 8-October 10, 1976). Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Martin Johnson Heade (American, 1819–1904)
- Date
- 1867–68
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 97 x 153.5 x 14 cm (38 3/16 x 60 7/16 x 5 1/2 in.); Unframed: 72.3 x 128 cm (28 7/16 x 50 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund and Gift of Delbert Gutridge in memory of Orrel A. Parker by exchange
- Accession no.
- 1970.161
More by Martin Johnson Heade in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009232
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