George Loring Brown (1814-1889)
Norwalk Island, 1863
Oil on paper mounted on canvas, 14 1/2 x 21”
Signed and dated lower right

For years Brown lived in Italy where his lush scenes of ruins and mountain lakes were popular with both Americans and Europeans. In the early 1860s, he returned to his native Boston and visited Connecticut to paint views of the Norwalk Islands.

These paintings differ sharply from his Italian work. The subject matter is homier, the viewpoint closer, the colors brighter, and the light clearer. Brown’s custom in Italy of using color patches to emphasize effects of light and dark is seen here only in the foreground. Other areas such as the pole with a pennant, marking an oyster bed are closely observed. A note on the back says that this scene was painted outdoors.