October Day 1908

Robert Julian Onderdonk painted this oil on canvas, titled October Day, at an unknown date. Looking at this painting I get the sense of a singular, defining moment—you can almost feel the cool wind and smell the scent of fallen leaves. But the briskness of the air doesn't stop that big, vibrant red tree from burning right in the center of our view. It’s as if Onderdonk tried to capture the ephemeral nature of a fleeting instant. I can just imagine him mixing those reds and oranges, trying to capture that particular shade of autumnal blaze, almost as if he were trying to bottle the memory. That tree isn't just a tree; it's a stand-in for memory itself. It resonates with the work of other landscape painters, like the Hudson River School artists, who also sought to capture the sublime beauty of nature, but Onderdonk gives it this raw immediacy. It’s a conversation across time.