American Tonalist Impressionist Painting “Midsummer” by Cullen Yates

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CULLEN YATES
American, 1866-1945

"Midsummer"

Oil on canvas | Signed lower right "Cullen Yates" | exhibition label retained noting its … Read more CULLEN YATES
American, 1866-1945

"Midsummer"

Oil on canvas | Signed lower right "Cullen Yates" | exhibition label retained noting its title and "no. 6702

Item # 406KKL02P

A bold and bright summertime landscape executed in oil, the kleidescope of emerald hues immediately strike the viewer as we look across this shallow valley to the calm waters below and the fields of golden grasses in the distance. The blue skies are speckled with puffy cotton clouds behind the trees full of foliage piercing the horizon. In this example, Yates works the oil with a brush filled with paint, creating a chaotic and vigorous scene full of movement. His heavy strokes in the distant field become dabs and tiny hints of varying layers of green in the trees, much of this worked while the paint was still wet and allowing the colors to mix into eachother and come through the background into the foreground. A small path leads the eye down through the grasses to the river's edge below.

A part of an unknown exhibition, we have retained the original backing panel which has an old exhibition label where this was "no. 6702". Housed in what appears to be the original Arts & Crafts frame. A very fine example.

Cullen Yates was a prominent American landscape painter who became well-regarded for his contributions to the Tonalist and Impressionist movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Bryan, Ohio, Yates moved to Cleveland as a child where he studied at the Cleveland School of Art. He decided it would be important to study art in New York City and was finally accepted into the National Academy of Design when he was 25 years of age. Together with his mother, they moved to be near the art colony at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, New York where he had the opportunity to train under the important American luminaries of landscape painting: William Merritt Chase and George Inness. He then traveled to France where he poured every waking moment into the study of art: day classes at Académie Julian, afternoon studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and painting in the evenings at the Academie Colorossi.

Yates became associated with American Tonalism, a style that emphasized mood and atmosphere, often through the use of muted colors and soft light. His work primarily focused on landscapes, and he frequently painted scenes of the countryside in New England, the Hudson River Valley, and New York State. Over time, his style evolved towards Impressionism, marked by brighter colors, a heavy impasto and looser brushwork.

Yates moved to New York to be closer to the center of the art scene and he exhibited extensively at the major art fairs and venues including the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He also exhibited internationally with works shown at the Paris Salon. It was in these important exhibitions that he became close with the leading painters and would eventually head to Old Lyme, Connecticut to become a pioneer of the Lyme Art Colony with several other influential contemporary painters.

Yates was a member of the Salmagundi Club and the American Watercolor Society. His works are included in the collections of several American museums and private collections, and his paintings continue to be appreciated for their serene and reflective qualities.

Cullen Yates passed away in 1945 in New York.


Measurements: 19" H x 22 3/4" W x 1 7/8" D [frame]; 12" H x 16 1/8" W [canvas]

Condition Report:
Professionally conserved, in a very fine original condition. Unlined and hung on original stretchers. Light craquelure throughout. Under UV, a few specks and spots of inpainting, less than 1%. Minor nicks and losses to the original frame. A very fine presentation. See less