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Van Buren, Tennessee

Oil on canvas
29 5/8 x 44 inches
Circa 1881
Now on view: USC Upstate, University of South Carolina, Spartanburg, South Carolina

As published in: Scenic Impressions: Southern Interpretations from the Johnson Collection

As exhibited in:
Carolina Collects, 2008, Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina

Scenic Impressions: Southern Interpretations from the Johnson Collection, 2015–2018, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee; Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia; McKissick Museum of Art at the University of South Carolina, Columbia; Telfair Museums, Savannah, Georgia; Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee; Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts at Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina

Although a Northerner by birth, Gilbert Gaul had strong ties to the South. In 1881, he inherited a farm in rural Van Buren County, Tennessee, from an uncle. The bequest carried a stipulation, however, which required Gaul to reside there for a minimum of four years. The gracious rolling hills of the state’s midsection lent themselves to pastoral interpretation.

Despite the fact that Gaul never traveled to France, this scene is reminiscent of Barbizon aesthetics, which emphasized the simple pleasures of country life. This idea is reinforced by the figures under the tree and the wading cows. The nostalgic mood of the painting is enlivened by impressionistic brushwork.

 

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