Artist:
William Chadwick
(American, 1879 - 1962)
The Cherry Tree (The Cherry Blossoms)
Alternate Title(s):The Cherry Blossoms
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: early 20th century
Dimensions:
24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Accession number: 2016.11.6
Copyright: © artist, artist's estate, or other rights holders
Label Copy:
The gnarled, yet elegant cherry tree provides a brilliant subject for American Impressionist William Chadwick. Blooming for a brief few days each April, the cherry tree’s crooked trunk is an asymmetrical framework, which Chadwick furiously filled with dabs of pastel-tinged paint. As in nature, the flurry of blossoms burst forth from the painting. Chadwick honed his plein air painting talents in art colonies such as Old Lyme, Connecticut, where he and many other American Impressionists found idyllic landscape subjects in the plentiful blooms of laurel, dogwood, and cherry trees.
The gnarled, yet elegant cherry tree provides a brilliant subject for American Impressionist William Chadwick. Blooming for a brief few days each April, the cherry tree’s crooked trunk is an asymmetrical framework, which Chadwick furiously filled with dabs of pastel-tinged paint. As in nature, the flurry of blossoms burst forth from the painting. Chadwick honed his plein air painting talents in art colonies such as Old Lyme, Connecticut, where he and many other American Impressionists found idyllic landscape subjects in the plentiful blooms of laurel, dogwood, and cherry trees.
Curatorial Remarks
The gnarled, yet elegant, cherry tree provides a brilliant subject for American Impressionist William Chadwick. Blooming for a brief few days each April, the cherry tree’s crooked trunk is an asymmetrical framework, which Chadwick furiously fills with dabs of pastel-tinged paint.
As in nature, the flurry of blossoms burst forth in the painting. Like many other artists who lived and worked in the Connecticut art colony of Old Lyme, Chadwick trained at the Art Students’ League in New York, but put his plein air painting talents to use in the idyllic landscape of New England. Old Lyme’s plentiful laurel, dogwood, and cherry trees inspired Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, and others to plan their travels around the blooming schedule. After many summers spent there, Chadwick finally made a permanent move to the village in 1915.
The gnarled, yet elegant, cherry tree provides a brilliant subject for American Impressionist William Chadwick. Blooming for a brief few days each April, the cherry tree’s crooked trunk is an asymmetrical framework, which Chadwick furiously fills with dabs of pastel-tinged paint.
As in nature, the flurry of blossoms burst forth in the painting. Like many other artists who lived and worked in the Connecticut art colony of Old Lyme, Chadwick trained at the Art Students’ League in New York, but put his plein air painting talents to use in the idyllic landscape of New England. Old Lyme’s plentiful laurel, dogwood, and cherry trees inspired Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, and others to plan their travels around the blooming schedule. After many summers spent there, Chadwick finally made a permanent move to the village in 1915.