Winter in New Hampshire 1914

Willard Metcalf captured this snow scene in a painting called "Winter in New Hampshire" using oil on canvas. Look at the blues and purples, the short, flickering brushstrokes. You can almost feel the chill in the air. I imagine Metcalf standing there, his hands numb, trying to capture the way the light hits the snow. He’s not just painting what he sees, but also what he feels. Think about how each stroke builds upon the last, layer upon layer. The physicality of the medium is really important. Each little dab of paint, each decision to go lighter or darker, it all adds up to this incredible sense of place. It reminds me of Monet, but with a distinctly American feel. Artists are always talking to each other across time, you know? This piece feels very Impressionistic, but grounded in a specific time and place. It's a conversation, an ongoing dialogue about how we see, how we feel, and how we translate that into paint.