Landscape with cottages

S.B. Kennedy comments about Henry's painting of this period, 'Characteristically he retains his familiar compositional format, that is, a two-part division of the picture plane with much attention given to the sky and cloud formations. Of particular note is his understanding of the landscape borne through experience of living in such places, a consciousness of the soft terrain and darkness of the bog, the meagre lifestyle of the people it supports and the paucity of any crops grown there, the moody stillness of the scene with its suggestion of a life unchanged for centuries. His handling of paint is adroit, forms and structures being set-down directly, described with great economy of means and with little re-painting or changes in concept' (Paul Henry, New Haven and London, 2000, p. 114).