Lowell Birge Harrison
Dear iOS users - today is BLACK FRIDAY. On this occasion our PRO features of DailyArt will cost not $4.99 but... $0.99. $0.99! :)) If you haven't bought them yet, just tap "upgrade to pro" button in the Archive. Enjoy!
Lowell Birge Harrison (1854-1929) was an American Tonalist painter known for his dreamy, evocative, and atmospheric paintings. He was encouraged by John Singer Sargent to study in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Cabanel. He exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1882 and his salon entry, Novembre, was the first painting by an American Artist purchased by the French government.
Fifth Avenue at Twilight is a great example of Tonalism; Harrison uses a minimal palette of browns, soft greens, and muted blues to create a gauzy, incandescent effect. Figures in tonal paintings are usually alone or indistinct, with obscured details (as seen in this painting) adding to the mood of stark, luminous beauty. He uses diffused light, in this case moonlight, street light, and light from interior windows to evoke the spirit of nature looming over a muted city landscape, as seen here in a scene from Fifth Avenue in New York City.
Later, Harrison helped found the Arts Students League Summer School in Woodstock, New York, where he was Director. He was also a writer and wrote the book Landscape Painting, which became an essential guide for student landscape artists. In addition to his reputation as a very talented landscape painter, he was also considered to be a leading writer in America on Contemporary Landscape painting and his book is still widely read today.
- Heidi Werber
Do you like New York City? Take a look at the "10 Unexpected Paintings Of New York" on DailyArtDaily.com