Framed: 17 1/4 x 21 1/2 inches
artist
American Impressionist Frank DuMond is best known for his lyrical paintings of everyday rural scenes—as well as for his influential career as an art educator. Born in Rochester, New York, the artist traveled to France in 1888; there he studied drawing in at the Académie Julian, worked en plein air in the countryside, and exhibited at the Paris Salon. Over a nearly six-decade teaching career at New York’s Art Students League, he trained generations of American artists, including Georgia O’Keeffe and Norman Rockwell. “Silently glowing over this whole landscape is a rainbow,” DuMond would tell his students. “You must learn to see it. It is there always, and if you can get hold of that, you have something worth going after.”
Description
Dumond once wrote of a painting he was doing “Its purely of the imagination and is that cherished land where all is peace and beauty.” Willows is just this although it is probably less purely of the imagination than a specific spot in Old Lyme and possibly near his home called “Grassy Hill”. Peace and beauty are two good descriptive words for many of his landscapes which are usually without drama or even much movement. Dumond does use color though in a way particular to him and Willows is a great example of this. His greens are of a hue that is slightly neon and very fresh and a tad artificial. He does this on purpose and he also evens out the picture in this hue. Dumond employed a bit of tonalism and he does this to elicit a feel from the viewer. This landscape is soothing and speaks of spring, freshness and vitality. Dumond was an artist who chose subtlety to communicate and there is a great allure to this. He had a methodical and clean way of laying down his brushwork that was just shy of being pointillist.
provenance
Private Collection, Florida.
Freeman's, Philadelphia, 2013.
Private Collection, Pennsylvania, acquired from the above, 2013 - 2021
Freeman's, Philadelphia, 2021
