This small painting follows a type that Parton used throughout the 1870s which shows a twilight view of cows watering framed by trees with dramatically bending limbs. Parton, who was born in Hudson, New York was part of an artistic family that included his brother Ernest. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and with Philadelphia artist William Trost Richards. In the 1860s, he moved to New York City where he had a studio in the Tenth Street Building, a gathering place for leading artists. He exhibited regularly at the National Academy of Design.
