|
Summer on the Saco
Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837-1900)
Unsigned
Not dated, probably 1860s
Inscribed on stretcher in pencil (not in artist's hand): Summer Afternoon on the Saco by Bricher
Oil on canvas, 18 x 32 inches
Private collection
Alfred Thompson Bricher's sketchbooks indicate that the artist visited the White Mountains as early as August 1861. During August, nine years later, Bricher again inscribed drawings made at Conway. In Summer on the Saco, the eye is led along the curving shoreline toward Mount Chocorua in the distance. The triangular clearing near the right bank serves to extend the vista of mountains in the distance and to echo and balance the two paths of light reflected on the river. Bricher included in this painting an opening or "window" through otherwise dense woods, an artistic device he used at least four times in oil paintings between 1861 and 1866. Although topographically driven, Bricher's canvas reflects the development of his Luminist vision in a mastery of the effects of light and air.
