William Lamb Picknell
(1853-1897)
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The Vermont-born Picknell spent most of his abbreviated career abroad, living in and painting some of France's most prominent art colonies, including Pont-Aven and Concarneau, in Brittany; Grez- sur-Loing and Moret-sur-Loing, south of Paris; and Antibes, along the Côte d'Azur. After some early study with fellow American George Inness in Italy, Picknell gained entrance to the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, where he painted in the atelier of the renowned academic artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, known for imparting his mastery of draftsmanship to students. Picknell returned to America for a time during the 1880s, traveling to Florida and California, and devoting a meaningful portion of his time to painting at Annisquam, on Massachusetts' Cape Ann Peninsula.Picknell is particularly known for the quality of light in his landscapes, where strong sunlight reflects off broad surfaces back towards the viewer, intensifying colors and sharply delineating forms. The powerful, glaring sunlight in these carefully composed works anticipates the full-blown impressionist aesthetic, concerned with more momentary sensations of light and an attendant dissolution of form. |