Afternoon among the Cypress

ca. 1905
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 744
Mathews was not only a painter but an architect and a designer of interiors, furniture, and decorative objects. Through his publications and teaching, he did much to popularize his variation of Art Nouveau, sometimes referred to as the California decorative style. Mathews's landscapes celebrate California's distinctive topography, plant life, and tawny, golden tonalities. In "Afternoon among the Cypresses," he silhouettes the bent limbs and wide flat crowns of the Monterey-peninsula cypress trees to achieve a strong decorative effect. Heavy foreground shadows and the darkened copse contribute to the moody, slightly mysterious impression.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Afternoon among the Cypress
  • Artist: Arthur Frank Mathews (1860–1945)
  • Date: ca. 1905
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 26 1/4 x 30 in. (66.7 x 76.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Henrietta Zeile, 1909
  • Object Number: 09.186
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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