After a Summer Shower (Primary Title)
Asher B. Durand, American, 1796 - 1886 (Artist)
Emphasizing nature’s bounty, Asher B. Durand’s After a Summer Shower offers two vistas—one can follow the portal created by the trees at left, or the more open riverine path at right. The painting maintains the close study of trees, rocks, and streams that Durand and other Hudson River School landscape painters sought to capture before the American wilderness vanished amid the Industrial Revolution of the mid-19th century. The scene appears untouched and serene at first glance, but the house, well-worn road, and farming activity suggest the active presence of civilization. In this way, After a Summer Shower exemplifies what modern observers have called the “middle landscape,” in which painters harmonize manmade and preexisting natural components so that they mesh in the picture plane.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
