Landscape with Tree and Stream 19th-20th century

Editor: This is Denman Waldo Ross’s "Landscape with Tree and Stream," a small-scale painting in the Harvard Art Museums. It feels very immediate. What do you see in this piece that goes beyond a simple landscape? Curator: The tree, boldly rendered, acts as a symbolic bridge between earth and sky. Note its placement; it mirrors the way cultures often position sacred trees in their cosmologies as representations of vitality and connection. Editor: So, it's not just a tree, but a symbol? Curator: Precisely. Its skewed posture, leaning into the scene, evokes a sense of nature's resilience, perhaps even a quiet defiance against an unseen force. The stream below whispers of constant renewal. Does it suggest continuity to you? Editor: It does. It’s interesting how a simple scene can hold so much meaning.