Summer Afternoon

Durand’s landscapes were so popular that they were often acquired by enthusiastic collectors almost as soon as the artist finished painting them. Morris K. Jesup, who commissioned this painting, also owned "The Beeches" (15.30.59) and several other important pictures by artists of the Hudson River School. In this view of luminous water and misty distance, he demonstrated how carefully he analyzed the subtle changes taking place in nature and showed how well he knew the technical secrets of depicting them. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)