The Winter Sun, by George Gardner Symons, about 1909
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The Winter Sun

George Gardner Symons (American, 1861–1930)

about 1909

Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
120 × 181.6 cm (47 1/4 × 71 1/2 in.)
Culture
United States
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
Credit line
Friends of American Art Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

George Gardner Symons was born in Chicago and likely began his artistic education at the School of the Art institute of Chicago. He went on to work at the St. Ives artists' colony in Cornwall, England, where he adopted the Impressionist technique of painting en plein air. Symons traveled extensively in pursuit of artistic subjects, maintaining studios in a number of locations, including Colrain, Massachusetts, where he likely created The Winter Sun. He especially enjoyed the challenges of depicting wintry landscapes, which he largely completed outside in the elements. Symons's approach in such mature works had a forceful breadth that critics saw as particularly American in character. Paintings like The Winter Sun thus found great favor among American audiences and museums, which acquired many of his works.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0