Blossom Time

Following what he called his "renaissance"--a sojourn in Maine in 1903--Metcalf began working in what is now regarded as his mature style. Fond of the changing seasons, especially of Winter and Spring, Metcalf painted a number of works that depict the gentle Connecticut countryside studded with blossoming fruit trees.

Blossom Time was painted in Falls Village, Connecticut, and it retains a descriptive emphasis that reveals Metcalf's early training in Paris. Metcalf never abandoned his interest in draftsmanship and clearly defined form, although he was to combine it with short, prominent brush strokes and broken color more aptly considered "Impressionist."  While the light in Blossom Time is bright and flickers over the surface, the forms themselves exhibit relatively precise definition.

Metcalf was one of several artists to experiment with a square format. Both Blossom Time and The White Pasture (F1917.249), are composed of vibrant diagonal wedges whose flat, decorative quality reaffirms the painted surface rather than suggesting real space. These active patterns are contained within the static square format to form a decorative whole.

Metcalf permits himself an anecdotal passge in Blossom Time. In the middle ground a young boy fishes while his dog watches attentively, while the painting draws our own attention to the blossom-laden trees and sub-bathed meadow, permitting us to experience again the youthful promise of Spring.