Morning Star

An example of Józef Chełmoński’s (1849-1914) ability to perceive subtle weather phenomena is the composition entitled Morning Star. The painting portrays a broad landscape shown at the moment when the night gives way to the light of the day. The monotonous space of the olive-green meadows and brown, ploughed fields is closed off by the dark wall of the forest on the horizon. The sky is lit by the glow of the early morning. The spaciousness of the landscape is highlighted by the line of a dirt road which runs from the foreground into the depths of the composition.