Farm, Long Island

George Henry Smillie first visited East Hampton in 1882 and was captivated by the terrain. In an 1885 article for The Century, Lizzie W. Champney noted his delight in the environs of the East End: "Mr. Smillie finds here a likeness both to England and Holland. The gardens and orchards, the lanes, barns, and shrubbery, are all English; while the meadows stretching to low horizons, the windmills 'with their delicate white vans [sic] outlined against the sky,' are Dutch. . . . [He] paints trees and rocks as the masters of genre paint aged men and women, making every wrinkle and scar tell its story."

The scene that Smillie presents is notably simplified. The most significant feature in the barren foreground field is a small leafless tree. Rough boards have been placed upright around it to form a provisional corral to fend off the grazing livestock. Rustic farm buildings are included, among them a windmill, which assumes prominence because of its central placement in the composition; yet its blades, viewed from an oblique angle, fail to furnish a picturesque silhouette. A stooped figure leans heavily on a stick as he crosses the field on the left; his broad sun hat suggests that the pending storm has arisen suddenly. The real drama has been consigned to the sky as an oncoming cover of clouds obscures the once sunny day, just visible as a bright sliver on the horizon dotted with sailboats.