Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia

About the Artwork

Israel Cook Russell’s view of the Great Dismal Swamp, which straddles the border between Virginia and North Carolina, evokes both the locale’s abundance of timber and its sense of desolation. Russell, a celebrated geologist, took care to express the geological and biological forces that shaped landscapes but also to create images of artistic value.

Inscriptions

Handwritten in graphite on verso of photograph a/o mat: "C.H. Merriam, attrib.; Dismal Swamp, NC, c. 1880 (?); GE 1890.2; 172; 450"

Provenance

February 12, 2000: (Gary Edwards Gallery, Washington, DC, sold to Judith K. McMillan, Chardon Township, OH) 2000–2024: Judith K. McMillan, Chardon Township, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH September 9, 2024–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Quick Overview

Artist: Israel Cook Russell (American, 1852–1906)
Date: c. 1872–90
Medium: albumen print
Dimensions: Sheet: 14.9 x 19.1 cm (5 7/8 x 7 1/2 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: Gift of Judith K. McMillan
Accession no.: 2024.133

More by Israel Cook Russell in museum collections

Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia
Israel Cook Russell
c. 1872–90 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00012876

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.