Autumn
Open fields, broken by a copse in the middle distance. Signature in lower right corner.
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- Provenance
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From 1893 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the artist, Dwight William Tryon on April 12, 1893 [1]From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]Notes:
[1] See Voucher No. 22, April 1893, Box 2, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Curatorial Remarks, S. Hobbs, 1978: One of a series of four canvases based on the seasons, the painting was commissioned for Freer's new home in Detroit which was built in 1892-1893.
[2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
- Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)
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Dwight William Tryon (C.L. Freer source) 1849-1925
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
- Description
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Open fields, broken by a copse in the middle distance. Signature in lower right corner.
- Label
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In 1891, Tryon offered to paint a picture or two for the house Charles Lang Freer was building in Detroit, "a dream of Beauty," as it was described, "inside and out." Freer readily accepted Tryon's offer, and before long the commission had grown to include seven paintings for the main hall: Summer (F1893.15), Autumn, Winter (F1893.17), Springtime (F1893.14) and Dawn (F1906.86). In these "decorations," as Tryon called these paintings, the artist attempted to maintain the classic "purity" of the interior design by keeping a consistent horizon in every scene. Although some of the paintings were occasionally exhibited separately, Freer and Tryon always regarded them as an "ensemble."
Spring and autumn were Tryon's favorite seasons. He customarily timed his arrival in the country so that he could "catch the spring," hoping to glimpse the contours of the trees through the budding branches; and he never returned to New York until the end of the autumn, waiting until the leaves had fallen so that he could once again observe the "wonderful anatomy of the trees."
- Published References
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- Thomas W. Brunk. The House that Freer Built. no. 3, Spring 1981. p. 15.
- Charles Henry Caffin. The Art of Dwight W. Tryon, an Appreciation. New York, 1909. p. 71.
- Susan Hobbs. A Connoisseur's Vision of America: The American Collection of Charles Lang Freer., August 1977. p. 84.
- Linda Merrill. An Ideal Country: Paintings by Dwight William Tryon in the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington and Hanover and London, 1990. cat. 10, pp. 112-117.
- Melody Barnett Deusner. Aesthetic Painting in Britain and America: Collectors, Art Worlds, Networks. London, England, November 17, 2020. p. 184, fig, 88a.
- Collection Area(s)
- American Art
- Web Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- SI Usage Statement
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Usage Conditions Apply
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CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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Usage Conditions Apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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International Image Interoperability Framework
FS-8197_05