Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
American, 1840-1905
Robert Swain Gifford (1840–1905) Robert Swain Gifford was an American landscape painter best known for his evocative coastal scenes and atmospheric landscapes. He was born on July 23, 1840, on Naushon Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts.
Early Life and Training Gifford moved with his family to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he developed an early interest in art. He began formal training with Dutch artist Albert van Beest, who had a significant influence on his style, particularly in marine subjects.
Travel and Influence Gifford’s artistic development was deeply shaped by extensive travel:
In the 1860s, he visited California, painting its rugged coastlines.
He also traveled to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, producing works inspired by exotic and arid landscapes, which set him apart from many of his contemporaries.
Style and Legacy Gifford’s work blends luminism and tonalism, focusing on mood, light, and atmosphere rather than intricate detail. He painted in both oil and watercolor, often capturing tranquil, meditative scenes of marshes, harbors, and deserts.
His art reflects a fascination with natural light and subtle tonal variation, and he was especially adept at portraying foggy seascapes and remote coastal views.
Career Highlights Elected full academician at the National Academy of Design in 1867.
Exhibited regularly at major institutions, including the Boston Art Club, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Received a medal at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle.
Death and Recognition Gifford died in 1905 in New York. Today, his works are held in prestigious collections including:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Museum of Fine Arts, Bostonto
3
3
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
7
7
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
7
7
4
4
1
10
682
609
307
233
5
1
7
Artist: Robert Swain Gifford
New England Farmhouse
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Provenance
The artist;
By descent in the family to the artist's great-grandaughter, until 2023
Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved t...
Category
Late 19th Century Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Wooded Sand Dune
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Wooded Sand Dune
Oil on panel, 12 x 18 1/8 inches
Framed dimensions: 17 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches
Estate stamp lower right: RSwain Gifford
Provenance
The artist;
By descent in the family ...
Category
Late 19th Century Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
The Citadel of Cairo, Evening
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Jacksonville, FL
Oil on canvas mounted on board.
As twilight descends over the ancient city of Cairo, the iconic silhouette of the Citadel emerges against the fading light. This is the scene that Robert Swain...
Category
1870s Realist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
The Edge of the Forest
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Robert Swain Gifford (1840–1905)
The Edge of the Forest
Oil on canvas, 15 x 23 1/4 inches (38.1 x 59.1 cm)
Estate stamp lower right: RSwain Gifford
Provenance
The artist;
By descent in the family to the artist's great-grandaughter, until 2023
Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved to the New Bedford, Massachusetts, area when he was two years old. The Dutch marine painter Albert Van Beest arrived in New Bedford in 1854, providing the teenage Gifford with the opportunity of study; he collaborated with Van Beest on a number of ship pictures...
Category
19th Century Tonalist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil
Tangier
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Tangier, 1870
Oil on canvas, 11 3/4 x 14 1/2 inches
Framed dimensions: 16 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches
Inscribed and dated lower right: Tangier / Africa. Sep. 23rd / 1870
Estate stamp lower l...
Category
1870s Realist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Evening Landscape
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved to the New Bedford, Massachusetts, area when he was two years old. The Dutch marine painter Alber...
Category
1880s Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Landscape with Haystacks
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Robert Swain Gifford (1840–1905)
Landscape with Haystacks
Oil on canvas, 14 1/8 x 24 inches (35.9 x 61 cm)
Estate stamp lower left: RSwain Gifford
Provenance
The artist;
By descent in the family to the artist's great-grandaughter, until 2023
Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved to the New Bedford, Massachusetts, area when he was two years old. The Dutch marine painter Albert Van Beest arrived in New Bedford in 1854, providing the teenage Gifford with the opportunity of study; he collaborated with Van Beest on a number of ship pictures...
Category
19th Century Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil
Related Items
"Near Bourron, France" Gilbert Munger, Barbizon School, Countryside Landscape
Located in New York, NY
Gilbert Munger
Near Bourron, France, circa 1886
Signed lower left
Oil on panel
13 x 18 inches
Gilbert Munger was born on April 14, 1837 in Madison, Connecticut. He showed interest ...
Category
1880s Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
"a Fontainebleu, " Charles Francis DeKlyn, Barbizon, Oil, French Countryside
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Charles Francis De Klyn was born in Westchester County, New York, in 1865. A landscape, marine, portrait and figure painter, De Klyn studied in New York and Paris from 1886 to 1891, then taught at the Cleveland Art Club and the Cleveland School of Art. In 1893, he was one of the founders of the Cleveland Brush and Palette Club, and he exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1894 and 1895. He was also a member of the Society of Western Artists.
"A Fontainebleu" by Charles Francis De Klyn is a beautifully rendered Barbizon oil...
Category
Late 19th Century Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
$2,500
H 21.5 in W 18.25 in
Colorful Twilight Sky
By Dennis Sheehan
Located in Milford, NH
A fine tonalist landscape with colorful twilight sky at the end of the day by American contemporary artist Dennis Sheehan (b. 1950). Sheehan was born in Boston, Massachusetts and wen...
Category
2010s Tonalist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Mid Century Big Sur Coast at Sunset Seascape
Located in Soquel, CA
Gorgeous mid century seascape of Big Sur at sunset by California artist Arlene Manley (American, 20th Century), 1962. Signed and dated lower right corner...
Category
1960s Realist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
20th Century French School Luminous Landscape Oil painting Signed Oauc
Located in Zofingen, AG
Luminous beautiful landscape.
It's a landscape from Barbizon school. Probably inspired by Caspar David Friedrich, known for his landscapes seeking to tend towards the magnificent,...
Category
Early 20th Century Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$537 Sale Price
85% Off
H 13 in W 18.31 in D 0.79 in
Shepherdess at the edge of the forest
Located in Gent, VOV
"Robbe Louis, “Plein air” Animal Painter"
ROBBE Louis Born in Courtrai on November 17, 1806, died in Brussels on May 2, 1887. Pupil of Eugène Verboeckchoven and Jean-Baptiste De Jonghe...
Category
Mid-19th Century Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Winter in the village. Oil on canvas and cardboard, 34x45 cm
By Alfejs Bromults
Located in Riga, LV
Winter in the village. oil on canvas and cardboard, 34x45 cm
Winter landscape with old barn
Alfejs Bromults (1913.3.IV - 1991.11.I)
His first professional education was at National...
Category
1950s Realist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cardboard, Canvas
$764 Sale Price
20% Off
H 13.39 in W 17.72 in D 0.2 in
"Landscape with Farm"
By John Francis Murphy
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
John Francis Murphy (1853 - 1921)
John Francis Murphy is increasingly recognized today as one of the leading American Tona...
Category
1890s Tonalist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
19th Century French School Landscape BARBIZON Oil painting Signed
Located in Zofingen, AG
➡️Rustic Cottage in a Woodland Clearing⬅️
☀️Subject & Setting☀️
A thatched-roof cottage sits in a clearing surrounded by dense, slender trees with soft foliage.
A winding dirt path ...
Category
Early 1800s Tonalist Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
$441 Sale Price
79% Off
H 11.23 in W 14.38 in D 0.79 in
Rooster and Hens in the Barnyard William Baptiste Baird (U.S./France 1847-1917)
Located in SANTA FE, NM
Rooster and Hens in the Barnyard
William Baptiste Baird (U.S./France 1847-1917)
Oil on panel
Signed lower right "W. Baird"
12 1/4 x 9 inches
A stunning example of William Baptiste...
Category
1880s Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
A Mountain Dwelling: 19th Century landscape bearing Corot signature on verso
By Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Located in Norwich, GB
Our 19th Century painting of a mountain dwelling, bathed in soft light light is a fresh and relevant as if it had been created yesterday. Painted certainly in plein air on the motif,...
Category
Mid-19th Century Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cardboard
$960
H 10.63 in W 16.15 in D 1.19 in
19th Century French Barbizon Signed Oil Painting Cattle & Dog in Rural Lane
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Jacques Alfred Brielman (1836-1892) French.
A Landscape with Cattle and a Dog in a Rural Lane,
Oil on Canvas, Signed,
Unframed 15" x 23" (38 x 58.5cm)
condition: overall very good,...
Category
Mid-19th Century Barbizon School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Previously Available Items
Marine Oak Trees
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Robert Swain Gifford (1840–1905)
Marine Oak Trees
Oil on canvas, 15 x 22 1/4 inches (38.1 x 56.5 cm)
Estate stamp lower right: RSwain Gifford
Provenance
The artist;
By descent in the family to the artist's great-grandaughter, until 2023
Born on a small island near Martha's Vineyard, R. Swain Gifford and his family moved to the New Bedford, Massachusetts, area when he was two years old. The Dutch marine painter Albert Van Beest arrived in New Bedford in 1854, providing the teenage Gifford with the opportunity of study; he collaborated with Van Beest on a number of ship pictures...
Category
19th Century Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil
Robert Swain Gifford (American, 1840-1905) "The Rock of Gibraltar" Oil on Canvas
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Queens, NY
Robert Swain Gifford (American, 1840–1905)
"The Rock of Gibraltar" (View from the Spanish Shore), 1872
A rare and important oil on canvas painting, mos...
Category
19th Century Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil
Hudson River School Fall Landscape with Figure by Robert Swain Gifford
By Robert Swain Gifford
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressionist landscape painting with a figure by Robert Swain Gifford (1840-1905). Oil on board, circa 1880. Signed lower left, "R. Swain Gifford&...
Category
1880s Hudson River School Robert Swain Gifford Landscape Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Robert Swain Gifford landscape paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Robert Swain Gifford landscape paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Robert Swain Gifford in oil paint, paint and more. Not every interior allows for large Robert Swain Gifford landscape paintings, so small editions measuring 90 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of William Bradford, John Frederick Kensett, and Jasper Francis Cropsey. Robert Swain Gifford landscape paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $140,000 and tops out at $140,000, while the average work can sell for $140,000.