Brook in the Mountains 1945

George Ault made "Brook in the Mountains," an oil on canvas, at an unknown date. But to really understand this image, we need to understand the artist, and the cultural context from which he emerged. Born in 1891, Ault was an American modernist painter associated with Precisionism, a movement that emerged in the 1920s, celebrating the new American landscape of industry, skyscrapers, and machines. But unlike many of his peers, Ault often focused on rural scenes, depicting them with a sense of isolation and geometric clarity. Look at the stark, crisp rendering of the natural elements: the rocks, water, and trees all feel distilled to their essence. The monochromatic palette and flattened perspective contribute to the sense of stillness and quietude. Perhaps we can understand this landscape as a visual metaphor for Ault’s own sense of alienation during the interwar years. To really understand this image, we might look at the artist's biography and writings by critics of American modernism.