Harlem Valley, Winter 1921

Ernest Lawson made this painting, Harlem Valley, Winter, with oil on canvas at an unknown date. Lawson has built up the surface of the painting with small flecks of color. You can almost imagine him outside in the cold, rapidly applying paint to try and capture the scene before him. He was probably shivering like mad. The sky is grey, and the ground is covered in snow, but the painting isn’t bleak. Look closely and you’ll see small touches of yellow, green, and blue. These colors create a sense of vibrancy, even in the midst of winter. The trees are bare, but they reach up towards the sky, as if they're ready to start budding. And you can follow the meandering road into the distance, towards a faint horizon. It reminds me a little of some of Monet's paintings of the French countryside, but with a distinctly American feel. All of these painters are talking to each other across time. It's like they're saying, "Hey, have you seen this? Have you felt this?"