Outskirts of Trenton

In 1916 Folinsbee settled in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and soon became associated with the New Hope School of American impressionism. He made frequent trips to New York for exhibitions as well as social events. He took the train from Trenton to Penn Station, and it was on one of his trips back to Trenton during the winter of 1924-1925 that Folinsbee saw this scene from his seat window. The train had stopped for a few moments, giving him time to make a small pencil drawing of the composition. Folinsbee painted the canvas in his studio the next day from this drawing, which was probably annotated (as nearly all his drawing are) with precise information as to colors, light, and shadow. Supplementing the drawing, Folinsbee wrote, was his "memory of the mood and effect of the late afternoon light," a particular time of day that he was fond of painting.