Lowell Birge Harrison, “Fifth Avenue at Twilight.” This won’t be the only painting I share by this guy. I’ve not seen the original painting, and the images of it online are wildly different, but I prefer this one. It conveys the misty atmosphere of the city after a rain, the evening light fading. Gas and oil lamps mark a score of sharp warm notes against a pale, cool vista. Peach over violet. This is a prime example of “aerial perspective.” The suggestion of distance, not by line, but by atmosphere. More distant objects appear more pale, cooler, less distinct, desaturated. I can walk into the space of this painting, breathe the damp air, feel at peace.
Lowell Birge Harrison, Fifth Avenue Twilight
