The Collection of Dorrance "Dodo" H. Hamilton

Provenance: Alderfer Auction, Hatfield, Pennsylvania, sale of December 7, 2005, lot 886.

Dixon-Hall Fine Art, Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Acquired directly from the above in 2006.

Collection of Dorrance H. Hamilton.

NOTE:

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Nye was a painter and teacher who worked mostly in Washington D.C. He studied at the Corcoran School and was a member of the Society of Washington Artists, the Washington Watercolor Club, and the Washington Landscape Club. Although he first succumbed to the Cubist influence of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Nye adopted a more impressionistic style in the 1920s.

The present work is characteristic of this artistic shift. Nye applied thick dabs of colorful paint in order to suggest the vibrating beauty of the landscape. The color and climate both suggest a quiet summer scene. Similarly to other works by Nye, the present corn field is completely desolated. Rather than depicting anonymous figures at work, the artist instead makes the colorful singularity of the field his sole focus.