Artwork
A Quiet Day near Manchester
A Quiet Day near Manchester is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Alfred Thompson Bricher. It dates from 1873 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: AT Bricher / 1873; on reverse: A Quiet Day / Near Manchester / by AT Bricher / 1873
About this work
Technique & Style
The painting is classified as a landscape and is associated with marine art, suggesting careful handling of light, water, and horizon.
A Quiet Day near Manchester is an oil on canvas landscape painting by Alfred Thompson Bricher, dated 1873. The work is executed on a horizontal canvas measuring 50.8 by 97.16 centimeters, a wide format suited to its expansive coastal or estuarial subject. Bricher worked in oil paint, a medium favored by Hudson River School and related American landscape painters of the period for its capacity to render atmospheric effects, reflective water surfaces, and nuanced skies.
The painting is classified as a landscape and is associated with marine art, suggesting careful handling of light, water, and horizon. As a work held in the National Gallery of Art collection, it is preserved as a finished oil painting on its original canvas support.
History & Provenance
Alfred Thompson Bricher executed the oil on canvas painting A Quiet Day near Manchester in 1873. The work's documented ownership history begins with Gerold Wunderlich & Co. in New York, which held the piece in 1983. It subsequently entered the collection of Dr. Robert Aaronson in Branford, Connecticut.
In 1989, Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr. of Los Angeles acquired the painting through Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., also based in New York. The artwork eventually joined the holdings of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 2008, obtained via a combination of gift and purchase.
Overview
Alfred Thompson Bricher's 1873 oil on canvas, "A Quiet Day near Manchester," depicts a tranquil coastal landscape. The painting features a lone figure seated on a rocky prominence, observing the expansive, calm ocean. The composition extends along a gentle shoreline, with distant sailboats hinting at human presence within the serene natural setting.
Subject & Meaning
The artwork centers on a solitary woman, dressed in a red gown and white apron, positioned on a rugged rock formation. Her gaze is directed towards the placid sea, suggesting contemplation or a moment of repose. The expansive, unruffled water and the distant, barely discernible sailboats contribute to an overarching sense of peace and isolation, inviting viewers to share in the quietude of the scene.
Artist & collection
