Passing off of the Storm

John Frederick Kensett

1872 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Inspired by his view from Contentment Island, near Darien, Connecticut, "Passing Off of the Storm" is a masterful example of the artist’s series known as his “Last Summer’s Work.” Kensett chose an unusually wide format for the small painting and provided no framing devices to mark the edges of the composition. Showing extreme sensitivity to gradations of tone, he applied broad areas of pure color interrupted only by subtle brushstrokes, such as those representing four diagonal reeds or markers in the left half of the canvas, a rowboat in the foreground, a tiny island, several white sailboats, and a very slight white wave or reflection on the otherwise placid surface of the water.

Artist

John Frederick Kensett

Date

1872

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Thomas Kensett, 1874