Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Old Trees
Peder Balke Norwegian
Not on view
In this desolate scene, trees and mountains seem to part ways to admit crepuscular winter light. Like his contemporaries, Balke was drawn to untamed landscapes that were characteristically Norwegian.
In this composition and others, Balke deliberately left loosely brushed brown paint—essentially a mid-tone base coat—visible in the lower register, scuttling conventions of finish observed by most painters. This prioritization of painterly effects over verisimilitude did not always find favor with the art establishment: in 1843, a Norwegian critic wrote, “His whole production is merely the mark of a dirty palette handled without discrimination.”
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