Along the Lakeshore at Dusk

Known for his exceptionally articulate and atmospheric landscape paintings, George Herbert McCord, a native of New York, was part of the second generation of Hudson River School painters. He studied at the Hudson River Institute, the Claverack Academy in Claverack, New York and with Samuel Morse and James Fairman. By 1870, McCord was exhibiting at the National Academy of Design and was taking frequent sketching trips to New England, Canada, Florida, and the Upper Mississippi. McCord also participated in one of the exclusive excursions sponsored by the Santa Fe Railroad to paint the Grand Canyon. In Along the Lakeshore at Dusk, the warm colors reflected in the water and sky are subdued yet forcible in effect, resulting in an impressively luminous composition. Whether or not McCord's style can be characterized as Luminist, it is certain that McCord shares the Luminist artists' preoccupation with light, atmosphere and attention to detail.