The Old Road to Deering

This enchanting fall scene is set in Deering, New Hampshire, located to the north of Wilton, where Ryder and his wife had purchased “a little house and three acres” in 1910. The couple split their time between New York, where they spent the winter months and New England, where they spent spring and summer. The artist interprets the rich fall foliage in the foreground as thickly laid down, broad brushstrokes, the topography of which enhances the sense of natural light in the composition. A contemporary critic observed that, “Ryder paints with a freedom and a facility which is not deterred by quibbling details. He is always lyrical and poetic in his approach, and often achieved a certain luminous quality… transforming a whole scene into something of other-worldly loveliness.”