Collection
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American Art

Early Spring Afternoon--Central Park

Willard Leroy Metcalf

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Willard Leroy Metcalf painted this panoramic view of Central Park as he saw it from his apartment on Manhattan’s West Side. His vantage point high above the park promoted a softening of detail and atmosphere that was enhanced by his delicate brushwork.

Metcalf may have been inspired by the bird’s-eye city views of the French Impressionists, including Claude Monet, whom he had come to know personally during several extended summer stays in Giverny, France, during the mid-1880s.

Caption

Willard Leroy Metcalf (American, 1858–1925). Early Spring Afternoon--Central Park, 1911. Oil on canvas, 35 15/16 x 35 15/16 in. (91.3 x 91.3 cm) Frame: 52 1/4 x 52 1/4 x 2 1/2 in. (132.7 x 132.7 x 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 66.85. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Early Spring Afternoon--Central Park

Date

1911

Medium

Oil on canvas

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

35 15/16 x 35 15/16 in. (91.3 x 91.3 cm) Frame: 52 1/4 x 52 1/4 x 2 1/2 in. (132.7 x 132.7 x 6.4 cm)

Signatures

Signed lower left: "W. L. Metcalf. 1911"

Inscriptions

Inscribed on stretcher: "Early Spring Afternoon--Central Park / W.L. Metcalf -- April 1911"

Credit Line

Frank L. Babbott Fund

Accession Number

66.85

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Artists and makers

Willard Leroy Metcalf

2 works in the collection