Landscape, Meiringen, Switzerland

William Trost Richards sketched this Alpine study during his travels through Switzerland, capturing the dramatic geology of the Meiringen region. The drawing demonstrates Richards's careful observation of natural forms—the towering rock faces rendered through deliberate cross-hatching, the varied textures of vegetation and stone. Two small figures at lower left establish scale against the monumental landscape. Richards worked extensively in watercolor and oil, but his drawings reveal his analytical approach to composition and light. This sketch exemplifies the nineteenth-century practice of field studies, where artists documented landscapes directly from nature to inform later finished works.