Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes

Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes is a painting by the American painter Martin Johnson Heade from the late 19th century. It measures without frame 30.5 cm x 67.3 cm, including the frame, the dimensions 54.3 x 90.5 x 7.95 cm. The picture is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC issued and the Museum of the John Wilmerding Collection was made ​​available.

Description

With this picture, the painter shows in an outstanding way a balance between opposites occurring in landscapes. The meandering river, leaving the detail shown in the right half in the background inside, is collected by the optical weight of the hay bale and the apple tree on the left. The rhythm of the river movements is reflected by the pattern that characterized the treetops and clouds on the sky. The pink clouds reflected in the water at the front center of the image, and leaning to the left form of the tree is matched by the high and thin clouds in the upper right corner.

The primary subject of the painting - the contrast of sunlight and shadow - is the conceptual roof over the individual pixels and can for example be traced to the shadow over the clouds or on the light curve of the hay bale.