Curatorial Narrative Edwin Forbes’s “The plains of Manassas, looking towards the Bull Run Mountains, from Gen. T.F. Meaghers headquarters” sits squarely within the tradition of topographical art, a genre that flourished during the 19th century as artists sought to document the changing landscape of the American West. Painted in 1862, this work showcases Forbes’s technical prowess as he captures the atmospheric weight of a war-torn Virginia countryside through an economical application of brushstrokes and a deliberate selection of hues.The artist’s linear brushwork, evident in the spare rendering of tree branches and terrain features, imbues the composition with a sense of structural integrity. This is further emphasized by the dominant use of neutral tones browns and grays that recall the patina on weathered stone or the rustle of dry leaves. As such, Forbes creates a chromatic structure that eschews ornamentation in favor of a sob