Autumn Landscape

Considered one of the best still-life painters of the late 19th century, Charles Ethan Porter found much of his inspiration in the varied natural landscapes of his home state of Connecticut. Relying on the use of rich colors and active, delicate brushwork as well as giving strong attention to detail, Porter?s works conveyed a quiet vibrancy of the natural world around him. In Autumn Landscape, Porter depicts a bucolic country view with a muddled palette of browns and yellows. While the colors of the plants reference the season of harvest, nature ? not labor ? appears to be the dominant focus of this work. A human presence is declared only by a faint smattering of smoke in the distance. Yet it seems quickly absorbed by the winds, and even the house from which it emanates blends into its environment as if it were part of the land formation.