Low Tide, Cliff Island, Maine

Alfred Thompson Bricher followed in the footsteps of the Hudson River School artists, painting astonishingly precise compositions using minute brushstrokes to create smooth surfaces. Bricher’s remarkable technique combines the sense of a hazy atmosphere with the fleeting effects of light—sometimes sparkling, sometimes glowing, and always dazzling. His accomplishment is made all the more impressive by his choice of location along the seashore, where the tide is in constant motion, flocks of birds swoop overhead, sailboats glide across the horizon, and nothing stays still for the artist to capture.