Fralin Catalog (6-21-23) - Flipbook - Page 39
The COUNTRYSIDE
Rural & Outskirts
T
hough often looking back to the Hudson Valley School
and its recording of the great vistas of America, landscape
painting of the later 19th century increasingly incorporated
elements of Impressionism. This movement was an almost
scientific analysis of light. The scintillating effects of direct sunlight,
the impact of changes in weather, the passing times of the day,
the distinctive seasons of the year – all were fleeting qualities that
interested the Impressionists.
Few paintings capture the celebratory atmosphere of holiday
getaways more than Gifford Beal’s The Mary Powell at Newburgh, its title
referring to the paddleboat ferry that transported Manhattanites to
their country retreats along the Hudson River. Here is a panoramic
scene that envelops both the fashionably clad reveling on a sundappled lawn, as well as the distant hills illuminated by daylight
falling between passing clouds. This flurry of movement and
transition is possibly Gifford Beal’s most lasting contribution to the
idiom of Impressionism.
George Inness’ Old Mill, Marlborough on the Hudson of 1882 makes a
telling comparison to the expansive landscapes in the Museum’s
permanent collection. Inness was a follower of Emanuel
Swedenborg, who recognized a spiritualism embedded within and
flowing through the natural world. This aura is felt in many of
Inness’ works. The Old Mill is possibly the Gomez Mill House along
the Hudson River south of Poughkeepsie, one of the oldest Jewish
settlements in America. The lone horseman at the water’s edge seems
to invite thoughts of man’s contemplative immersion in a world of
both natural and spiritual import.
Opposite: detail of Edward Willis Redfield, Spring Scene, n.d., illustrated page 51
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