Cows in a Pond at Sunset

Landscape painter Sanford Robinson Gifford portrayed the glowing light of sunset with brief brushstrokes and a limited, terracotta palette in this small oil sketch. With gradated bands of color, the artist captured the transitory moment’s golden, expansive sky and its reflection on the watering hole below. The bucolic scene evokes the tranquility and romance of nature. Across the pond, a home in the wilderness indicates man’s harmonious relation to the land. (Source: Art Institute of Chicago)