The Sun Kiss

The Sun Kiss is a stunning example of Willard Leroy Metcalf’s lively Impressionist landscapes, transporting the viewer to a tranquil summer day in a lush, green forest. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1858, Metcalf demonstrates in his art a lifelong dedication to the New England landscape, and the present work is no exception.

In 1883, Metcalf sailed to France to study at the Académie Julian in Paris. Before his return to the United States in 1889, he made numerous trips to the artist’s colony at Giverny, where Claude Monet’s influence attracted a number of notable American Impressionists, including Theodore Robinson, Childe Hassam and Theodore Butler, among others. While Metcalf’s attention to light, staccato brushstrokes and delicate palette all recall the painter’s time in Giverny, his lyrical scenes of the Northeastern landscape affirm his commitment to creating distinctly American Art.

Painted in 1908, The Sun Kiss likely depicts a scene in Connecticut or Maine, where the artist spent that spring and summer. Early the following year, Metcalf exhibited a number of works, including the present work and The Twin Birches (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia), in a solo show at the Montross Gallery in New York, earning him great acclaim. Of this work, the New York Times critic praised: “In the canvas called ‘The Sun Kiss’ we have a charming composition of the kind that has lured him many times before; young trees with leaves shimmering in the tender June light, sunlit water, and pleasant fields…The strong lines of the tree-trunks add force to the composition and a couple of children clambering over a fence to fish in the stream, admirably drawn and amusing and spontaneous in gesture, add the touch of lively ‘human interest’ so dangerous to introduce in a landscape, yet so rewarding and delightful when given with the precisely right value.” (“Exhibition of Metcalf’s Work,” New York Times, January 3, 1909)

Following his success at the Montross Gallery, Metcalf’s mature style was celebrated, with a critic for the New York American coining the term ‘Metcalf eyes’: “those of an optimist, an idealist. He is never sordid, too real; he searches only for nature’s radiant aspects.” (as quoted in R.J. Boyle, B.W. Chambers, W.H. Gerdts, Willard Metcalf (1858-1925): Yankee Impressionist, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2003, p. 30) Indeed, the lively brushwork and subtle light effects in the present work imbue the gleaming water and blowing leaves with a sense of movement, resulting in an utterly picturesque, sunlit scene.

Despite his undeniably Impressionistic style, critics in Metcalf's lifetime additionally lauded the Americanness of his art, particularly with respect to his New England landscapes. In a tribute to Metcalf, Catherine Beach Ely noted this essential connection to his home: "Perhaps nowhere else do the seasons put their imprint on landscape with such incisiveness as in New England...Every picture of Metcalf's is a poignant portrait of a local American scene, so that a lover of New England landscape feels a grip at the heart in viewing a country church, an old homestead, a Spring, Autumn or Winter day of his." (Willard Metcalf (1858-1925): Yankee Impressionist, pp. 65-6) The Sun Kiss echoes this sentiment, inviting the viewer to enjoy the shining New England day and celebrate the richness of the American landscape.