Harvest Scene with Storm Coming Up

Brevoort began his career in the 1850s, when the Hudson River School still governed mainstream American art. This is a large exhibition piece in that tradition though the rural subject and summer greens show awareness of French Barbizon painting. The verdure and farm workers seem about to be overcome by the onslaught of a storm. The date may be significant. During and just after the Civil War, artists reflected the turmoil with images of nature that included evidence of unrest.