American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists

Although Garber included figures in his landscapes early on, they often just blended with their surroundings, and acted as props on a stage. They would appear more prominently in the landscapes the artist would paint in the mid-to-late 1930s, this time acting as an important device of Garber's philosophy, which espoused the ancestral virtue of communion with the Earth through labor and farming. In The Blue House, Garber depicts several characters–five in total. While not all shown engaged in an activity (only one figure is actively raking), they are harmoniously integrated in the landscape and become an essential part of it. Their presence along the pathway accentuates the strong horizontal of the scene, while the colors of their clothes and garments complement (in some instances match) nature's surrounding hues. Contrary to his earlier and much more decorative canvases, the present work is anchored in reality and aims to depict the ordinary and cyclical nature of life. Here, Garber stresses the human connection with the land and the successful cohabitation between society and nature.

To that end, the titular blue house occupies much of the space, and becomes the element around which the composition revolves. Nestled between the river and the road, the house is surrounded by nature–at times blocking it (such as the background hills), other times being blocked by it (such as the imposing sycamore tree at center). Through its presence, the house showcases man's successful integration in the landscape, whose bounty and beauty is, in turn, revealed and enhanced by his hard work. The painting becomes a representation of spring and rebirth. Aside from the bright hues of cyans, pinks, greens and oranges, we notice the foreground crop is slowly flowering, while the tree bears leaves; Mother Nature will soon reward the inhabitants' hard work by providing them food and shadow. 

The result is a serene, enchanting scene that cajoles the viewer, and offers a vision of rural happiness. According to Lance Humphries, “in these depictions of small-town communities living in harmony with one another and their surroundings, Garber must have believed that his painting now meshed with the ideals of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration artists, whose mission was to glorify and celebrate ordinary American life, especially the everyday aspects of local and regional culture.”