Close of Day on the Maine Shore 1881

Willard Metcalf painted this oil on canvas work titled ‘Close of Day on the Maine Shore’. The painting is anchored by a rocky coastline that thrusts into a shimmering body of water, setting a scene that balances the tactile with the ethereal. The artist’s brushwork is particularly striking, with broad strokes of brown and ochre defining the rocks in the foreground, and the water is animated by strokes of blues and whites. This textural contrast engages the viewer, inviting a semiotic interpretation of nature’s dual character: solid and fluid, permanent and transient. The structural composition divides the canvas horizontally, creating a stratified effect where the earth meets the water, and the water meets the sky. The painting evokes a sense of quiet contemplation. The sky mirrors the sea’s reflective qualities. Through Metcalf's formal choices, we are presented with a landscape that is as much a psychological space as it is a physical location, one that continues to invite reflection.