Description

Curatorial Narrative From the Terrace by Abbott Fuller Graves presents itself as an exemplar of Impressionist landscape painting, its creation dating to a period when the movement’s influence was beginning to wane. The artist’s use of impasto brushwork lends a tactile quality to the work, imbuing the pinks, whites, and greens that populate the composition with a sense of three-dimensional presence. This emphasis on texture serves to underscore the atmospheric intent, as if Graves were attempting to capture the ephemeral effects of light on the natural world. In scale, From the Terrace reveals itself to be a masterful exercise in spatial rhythm, its 71×44 inches imbuing the work with an expansive sense of depth and dimensionality. The palette, dominated by pastel hues, behaves in a manner that is both calming and visually dynamic, as if the artist were striving to capture the shifting tonalities of atmosphere on a summer’s day. Whe