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.
Provenance:
To 1915
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, NY, to 1915 [1]
From 1915 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from M. Knoedler and Co., New York, at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, in San Francisco in 1915 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Voucher No. 3, June 1915, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[2] See note 1. This object was purchased by Charles Lang Freer from M. Knoedler and Co. at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, June 23, 1915, (see Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record). See also, correspondence between Roland F. Knoedler and C. L. Freer (May 22, 1915; May 28, 1915; June 21, 1915; June 23, 1915; June 25, 1915) in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[3] 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.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Shifting Boundaries: Perspectives on American Landscapes (July 13, 2024 to July 26, 2026)
Winter into Spring: American Landscapes (March 4, 1982 to June 1, 1982)
American Paintings (May 31, 1979 to June 17, 1980)
American Paintings (November 11, 1976 to October 12, 1978)
American Paintings (September 8, 1961 to May 2, 1973)
Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 8 and 9 (February 25, 1956 to April 28, 1958)
Untitled Exhibition, American Oil Paintings, Gallery 4, 1947 (September 25, 1947 to February 25, 1956)
Untitled Exhibition, American Oil Paintings (May 1, 1933 to February 6, 1944)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (February 20 to December 4, 1915)
The Ninth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists (Opened September 6, 1914)
Inaugural Exhibition, The Toledo Museum of Art (January 17 to February 12, 1912)
