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Summer

Summer

Artist: Francis Daniel Devlan (American, 1835 - 1870)

Date: 1868
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Canvas: 52 1/2 x 42 in. (133.4 x 106.7 cm)
Framed: 66 1/4 x 55 3/8 x 6 3/8 in. (168.3 x 140.7 x 16.2 cm)
Credit Line:Gift, Misses Caroline and Mary Archer
Object number: 1916.49.1
This pair of paintings (along with 1916.50.1) was executed late in Devlan’s career and was painted for his major patron, Henry A. Seyfert. The scene, although not identical, shares the same sloping mountain on the right, position of the body of water, and elevated point of view. Summer depicts a trio of picnicking figures in the foreground, with the girl in the pink dress being the most distinguishable. A haying scene is visible in the middle ground. The whole scene captures the essence of a rural American idyll following the Civil War. Winter is just as quintessentially an American view: the romance of the horse drawn sleigh, and the bright red scarf of the rider contrasting with his blue coat, makes for a memorable painting.
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