Nocturne

A founder and leader of the American watercolor movement by the late 1870s, La Farge used the medium to make studies for illustrations and decorative projects, to record his travels, and to paint exquisite floral still-life exhibition pieces. This sheet typifies those still lifes in its quiet mood, its nuanced handling of the medium, and its echoes of Japanese asymmetrical composition and broad tonal planes. La Farge was in the vanguard of American artists who appreciated Japanese design principles.

Credit: Bequest of Miss Louise Veltin, 1937