Passing Shower on a Spring Afternoon

The artist was a master at capturing the drama of changeable weather conditions such as passing storms and shifting light in sun-drenched scenes. Charles Lanman describes this work in his article, “Our Landscape Painters” (1850), in the following way: “The prominent object on the canvass [sic] is a lofty mountain which slopes gradually to the waters of a peaceful lake, while its summit is enveloped in a heavy cloud…The leaves on the trees seem to be heavily laden with new-fallen rain, and it is evident that a walk across the lawn would dampen one’s feet, for every spear of grass is also bending under the weight of a liquid pearl.”