Artwork
Pasture at Evening
Pasture at Evening is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Albert Pinkham Ryder. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 67.187.138
- Credit line
- Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967
About this work
Subject & Meaning
While historically linked to Albert Pinkham Ryder, the piece functions as a representation of the animal kingdom within a serene, nocturnal countryside setting.
Classified as a landscape, this work depicts a pastoral scene set during the evening. The composition features elements of the natural world, specifically including trees and animals, which together establish a rural atmosphere. The title and visual content emphasize the time of day, focusing on the qualities of twilight within a grazing environment.
While historically linked to Albert Pinkham Ryder, the piece functions as a representation of the animal kingdom within a serene, nocturnal countryside setting. The iconography relies on these fundamental components, foliage, livestock, and the fading light of dusk, to convey its subject matter without additional narrative complexity found in the provided records.
Technique & Style
Pasture at Evening is executed in oil paint on a canvas support, a medium consistently noted in its catalog entries. The work is classified as a landscape, reflecting its pastoral evening scene with trees and animals. The composition shows trees, animals, and a pastoral setting under evening light, as indicated by its described subject matter.
No further details about the artist's handling, surface condition, or specific stylistic techniques are provided in the sources.
History & Provenance
Created in 1922, this oil on canvas work was formerly attributed to Albert Pinkham Ryder, though current scholarship questions this association. The painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains housed within the American Wing. While the specific circumstances of its commission and the full chain of ownership prior to its museum acquisition are not detailed in the available records, the work's inception is firmly dated to the early twentieth century.
The piece depicts a pastoral evening scene featuring trees and animals, aligning with the landscape genre often linked to Ryder's oeuvre, despite the revised attribution status.
Overview
This oil on canvas, Pasture at Evening, presents a nocturnal landscape. The scene depicts a dark field at dusk, populated by several cows positioned near gnarled trees under a dense sky. The artist's extended engagement with the work resulted in a surface that conveys a profound, almost dreamlike atmosphere, characteristic of the painting's placement within the American Wing collection.
Artist & collection
Artist
Albert Pinkham Ryder was an American painter best known for his poetic and moody allegorical works and seascapes, as well as his eccentric personality.
