Willard Metcalf: Seasonal Landscapes

"The First Snow" by Willard Metcalf

"From about this time, Willard Metcalf developed as a painter of seasonal landscapes, sensitive to the specific nature of the individual seasons, foliage colors, and qualities of light. This new emphasis was remarked upon by the critics. He became particularly interested in winter scenes and his winter landscapes were compared to those of his friend John Twachtman. Although Metcalf had occasionally painted winter subjects earlier, he began to give them greater emphasis, and this emphasis continued until the end of his career. 

"Winter Landscape" by John Twachtman

'First Snow,' painted in 1906, is an example of an earlier treatment of a winter scene. It is a bit 'fussier' than his later paintings on that theme, but the general direction is there, and so are the interest and enthusiasm. The diagonal thrusts are stabilized by horizontal and vertical directions, and the square shape of the canvas (a predilection he shared with Twachtman) reinforces that stability. Again, like Twachtman, Metcalf used tonal variations of a gray and subtle changes of tones in the white field, broadly brushed on the canvas, to convey the feeling of silence, serenity, and 'aloneness' that he seemed to be seeking in his work.

After 1907 Metcalf did not return to Old Lyme to paint. The social aspects of the colony had begun to interfere. It was becoming gentrified, with afternoon tea served during exhibitions. This gracious life was not to Metcalf's taste, and he began to look elsewhere for new places as well as new associations and new ideas."

To be continued

(Excerpt from "Sunlight and Shadow: The Life and Art of Willard L. Metcalf" by  Elizabeth de Veer and Richard J. Boyle.)