Poetry in Paint
Visual artists and poets often find inspiration in one another's works, prompting the question "Which came first, the art or the poem?"
Willard Metcalf's paintings of nature were often associated with the poetry of Robert Frost, such as "Dust of Snow," which reads in part: "The dust of snow / From a hemlock tree / Has given my heart / A change of mood / And saved some part / Of a day I had rued." Metcalf's depictions of the New England countryside earned him the title "poet laureate of these homely hills."
Do you think the artist had read Frost's poem, published in 1923, when he painted this work? Tell us at 1001days@si.edu!
See Snow in the Foothills in person at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, where our traveling show American Impressionism: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum runs through January 5, 2003.
Source: Joann Moser. American Impressionism: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).
Pictured: Willard L. Metcalf, 1858–1925, Snow in the Foothills, about 1920–1925, oil, 29 3/8 x 33 1/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly.
Visual artists and poets often find inspiration in one another's works, prompting the question "Which came first, the art or the poem?"
Willard Metcalf's paintings of nature were often associated with the poetry of Robert Frost, such as "Dust of Snow," which reads in part: "The dust of snow / From a hemlock tree / Has given my heart / A change of mood / And saved some part / Of a day I had rued." Metcalf's depictions of the New England countryside earned him the title "poet laureate of these homely hills."