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Eagle Cliff from Profile Lake
George W. Waters (1832-1912)
Signed and dated lower center: GWWaters 1877
Oil on canvas, 26 x 44 ½ inches
Private collection
Artist and teacher George W. Waters presents a stunning view of the mountains that ring the northern side of Profile Lake, at the peak of fall foliage. Autumnal landscapes were Waters's specialty, and this painting celebrates the quiet beauty of the fall season after the summer tourists left Franconia Notch. He depicts the lake from the southern shore looking to the steep ridges of Eagle Cliff on the right. The double hump of Artist's Bluff and Bald Mountain at the northern end of the Notch rises in the distance. Waters has taken artistic liberties with the scenery by merging views from the southeastern and southwestern shores into one panoramic vista. He even inserts a fictional island. Soft veils of mist rising from the crags and slopes heighten an aura of stillness and reverie.
