Working alongside Richard Miller, Lawton Parker, and Frederick Frieseke, who were important members of the third generation of American artists in Giverny, Ritman abandoned his previous Academic style and inspired by the creative atmosphere in Giverny began to paint lovely young women in the sun-dappled outdoor gardens or in brightly lit interiors. In his examples, broken brushwork, dappled sunlight, and sophisticated handling of flesh tones which take on a translucent quality all represent a hallmark of Ritman's finest endeavors from this period. Such paintings are precious intimate works. They represent a more suggestive restrained approach to portraiture than his fellow artists.
Ritman was a leading American Impressionist painter in the early part of the 20th century. Afternoon Shade was executed in 1912 in Giverny, twelve years prior to its purchase by the Des Moines Association of Fine Arts in 1924. The years between 1912 and 1928 are widely recognized as Ritman's most successful period.
Des Moines Association of Fine Arts, 1924 (purchase)
Private Collection Newtown, CT
Private Collection Greenwich, CT, 1998 to present