The Trout Pool, November, 1910
Oil on canvas, 29 x 26”
Signed and dated lower left
Metcalf, a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, traveled extensively in Europe and the American Southwest but found his artistic vision in the New England countryside. This painting may have been done on a visit to his artist friend, Emil Carlsen, who had a home in Falls Village, Connecticut.
An enthusiastic fisherman, Metcalf would have had a special interest in this pool. While the intimate viewpoint is typical of American Impressionism, the colors are not. This is a shady place. When he painted a sunstruck scene, Metcalf’s colors could be brilliant. He was generally faithful to the colors of nature.