Tremezzo, Lake Como

1898

Not on view

Smillie trained as an engraver with his father and developed an interest in landscape painting while touring Europe in 1862. During the 1890s, he lived in southern Connecticut where he was likely exposed to the works of American Impressionists. He made his only professional trip to Europe in 1898, seeking inspiration and new subjects when the demand for his art was lagging. This watercolor was painted at Tremezzo, on the northern shore of picturesque Lake Como, near the border between Italy and Switzerland. Tremezzo was celebrated in contemporary guidebooks for its beautiful gardens, which thrive due to the temperate, sheltered climate. In an inscription at the lower left corner, Smillie indicates that his delicate rendering of the verdant foliage spilling over the walls of the enclosed villa was done "From Nature."

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Tremezzo, Lake Como
Artist: George Henry Smillie (American, New York 1840–1920 New York)
Date: 1898
Culture: American
Medium: Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on light green wove paper
Dimensions: 14 x 20 in. (35.6 x 50.8 cm)
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1970
Object Number: 1970.234.2
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

By George Henry Smillie

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Ausable River, George Henry Smillie American, Watercolor on light brown oatmeal wove paper, American — Ausable River
George Henry Smillie
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East Hampton Meadows, George Henry Smillie American, Oil on canvas, American — East Hampton Meadows
George Henry Smillie
1883

The Studio of George H. Smilie, Ridgefield, Connecticut

George Henry Smillie

1893

Garden View, Brooklyn, Fidelia Bridges American, Watercolor and gouache, with traces of graphite underdrawing, on tan hot-pressed wove paper, American — Garden View, Brooklyn
Fidelia Bridges
ca. 1867

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