American Forests of the 19th Century (Torrey Derda)

This is a view of Mount Diablo just outside San Francisco, California. There are some grazing sheep in the meadow in the foreground and Mount Diablo in the background separated by a forest in between. The artist uses a lot of reds and yellows to portray the sunset. The contrast of colors in the sky from yellows and reds to blue depict the change from day to night.

This is a landscape in Virginia. A forest covered hill in the background with a stream cutting through the trees in the foreground. The work is mostly green, indicating spring or summer. The angular lines focus attention to a man with four cows or oxen, either getting water or attempting to cross the stream.

This is a landscape of Florida in the morning overlooking a lake surround by forest. There is a single boat in the lake. The artist uses a combination of lines and colors. Aside from the greens of the forest, he uses horizontal bands of changing colors in the sky from a reddish orange to deep blue. Then the radiating lines of yellow draw focus to the coming sun.

This is a painting of a man overlooking the Hudson Valley. The artists uses different contrasting methods here, in the sky he uses horizontal lines with changing color from purple to reds and blues. Instead of the brighter colors being close to the sunrise, it is the opposite using the color reflection on the clouds. The horizontal lines of the clouds contrast with the diagonals of the landscape in the foreground being some browns and mostly greens of the forest spanning out in front of the man.

This is a landscape of Eagle Cliff in New Hampshire. There's a small meadow in the foreground with a single house, a family working and farm animals grazing. The meadow is surrounded by forest covered hills. The colors are primarily greens with yellows possibly signifying it's near fall or late summer. Focus is drawn to the foreground by dynamics, the working people, the animals, and the cut timber are all signs of work and change happening. The small house in the clearing contrasts the dense forest surrounding it. As you move away from the people the piece grows more static and darker in tone.

This is a landscape of Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite. A waterfall and stream run through the center of this piece from cliffs high above through a forest in the foreground. The artist uses vertical lines and scale from the two deer in the foreground to show the size of the trees and waterfall. The work consists mostly of greens and greys for the trees and stone outcroppings.

This is a portrait of a cemetery in a forest outside of Albany. Most of the work is dominated by the trees being green and brown, with the green grass, and tan road cutting through. A carriage is coming down the road in the background and a man is sitting in the foreground appearing to be waiting on the carriage. Other people dot through the trees with scattered tombs of white. It appears as if it is a new cemetery in a forest. The scale, however, shows most of the trees with narrow trunks and no wide old oaks or other massive trees. It's unclear if this signifies the forest isn't old or if it's a matter of species.

This is a landscape of the Catskill Mountains. There are cows in the foreground overlooking a vast forest followed by mountains in the background. The work is dominated by greens and yellows of the landscape and blues in the sky.

This is a landscape of Minneopa Falls in Minnesota. It's primary greens with browns and a very dark hue. A stream with two waterfalls cuts through the center. Aside from the visible elements, the more interesting is the lack of scale. There is a scale difference between different trees and from the foreground to background, however, the work contains no common reference to impose the actual size. No animals or other common frame of reference. The trees could be twenty feet or fifty. You can't tell in this work.