Connecticut Landscape, c. 1902-04
Oil on canvas, 24 1/8 x 24 1/8”
Signed lower left
Studying with John Twachtman and J. Alden Weir in the early 1890s, he painted outdoors for the first time at Cos Cob. This experience shaped Lawson’s career. He went to Paris but decided that "French influence kills if taken in too large a dose." He developed a style in which brilliant colors are so robustly applied that critics spoke of crushed jewels.
A few years after painting this pastoral scene, he joined the group of mostly urban realists who exhibited together as The Eight. In keeping with his spirit of independence, Lawson was the only Impressionist among them.