Three Chimneys

Following years studying in New York and service in the Navy, Eugene Thomason returned to his native South, settling first in Charlotte. In 1939—the year he painted Three Chimneys—he retreated to a rural crossroads called Nebo in western North Carolina. He was enthralled by both the landscape and the local people.

The focal point of Three Chimneys is the dark group of rectangular structures at the center. They are surrounded by curving hills, which are punctuated by trees with bright fall foliage. In addition, the buildings are silhouetted against sunlit trees and fields.

New York to Nebo: Living in western North Carolina, Thomason appreciated the rolling terrain of his surroundings. His landscapes typically have high horizon lines and deep rich colors. In Three Chimneys, the geometric silhouettes of three shadowy structures at the center lend scale and stability to the composition.

Shortly after his 1939 marriage to Elizabeth Williams, Thomason moved to Nebo, a small Appalachian crossroad. They transformed a modest farmhouse without electricity and plumbing into a family homestead. They gardened and raised pigs. The 1940 census lists him as a farmer with zero income. According to his wife, “He painted for the sheer joy and love of painting. Most of the time he painted for other painters—he was a painter’s painter and he painted what pleased himself.”