House and Farm on the Allegheny River (1863), William C. Wall

Note: this image of the painting does not accurately reflect the painting's true colors. (I couldn't find an online image that did.)

This painting drew my eye because it seemed very relaxing to look at. This is because all of the movement represented is slow--you can almost feel the boats drifting down the river. They do so in such a calm way that there is no wake from any of their boats or paddles. The cattle stand in the water, watching things go by. The colors are pleasant, soft, with lots of blues and greens. The river, which leads to the vanishing point behind the trees, directs your gaze to the house and farm by wrapping around it. The boats on the river are all parallel to the bank. There is no conflict. The fallen tree and rocks on the bank opposite the farmhouse point at the farm, and the agricultural fields make lines that frame the house. The colors are rich, and the detail is tremendously fine. Standing in front of the painting, I noticed that every blade of grass and flower was painstakingly painted. The muscles in the cattle are contoured, and minute details make up the farmhouse porch. Colors are reflected across the canvas, using the river to reflect the sky and the two banks to reflect each other--creating a sense of balance.

Everything in this painting is set up to trick the human visual system into sensing depth. This is achieved through the vanishing point and the way objects farther off seem smaller than those meant to be closer (the cattle are almost as large as the house and the tree in the foreground is larger than the hills in the background, though we know that none of this is possible).