Treasured Landscapes

Elizabeth Moore Reid
ca. 1850

This painting was commissioned by George Washington Parke Custis. Arlington Spring was a fresh water spring on the Arlington estate near the Potomac River. Custis built a kitchen, dance pavilion, and other amenities there for picnickers. He often pitched George Washington's Revolutionary War tents there for festivals, and would add to the musical entertainment with his fiddle. Over the years, thousands visited the Spring, a tradition that ended with the Civil War.

Oil on wood. L 57.5, W 45 cm
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, ARHO 1883