Harry Leith-Ross

(American, 1886-1973)

12:24 (Emmy at Window), 1965

oil on Masonite

signed Leith-Ross (lower left)

20 x 28 in.

Property from the Collection of Renny Reynolds

Provenance:

Collection of the Hortulus Farm Foundation Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Literature:

Erika Jaeger-Smith, Poetry in Design: The Art of Harry Leith-Ross, Philadelphia, 2006, pg. 91 (illustrated).

Exhibited:

Doylestown, Michener Art Museum, "Poetry in Design: The Art of Harry Leith-Ross," May 12, 2006 – October 1, 2006.

Lot Note:

Quiet winter scenes were among Pennsylvania Impressionist Harry Leith-Ross’s most favored subjects, as he sought to capture in subtle and suggestive ways the serenity emanating from snow-covered rural landscapes. 12:24 (Emmy at Window), a gentle rendition of a winter night at once filled with chill and warmth, encapsulates Leith-Ross’s aesthetic, one that puts forth observations of nature through an eminently personal lens.

Here, we are let in on a rather intimate scene, even if from a distance. The view of the house is not frontal; we only get to see a side façade, unadorned, seemingly impenetrable, save for the one window in the top right corner that does not dwell in the dark, and where the gaze is immediately drawn. The red-clad figure in the window is Leith-Ross's wife, Emmy. She appears to be sitting atop the couple's bed or perhaps at a desk, possibly reading or writing. She is caught in a private moment–at a time of day usually quiet and deserted–but with a sensitivity that only her husband's brush can afford.

12:24 (Emmy at Window) is equally a depiction of a peaceful wintry Pennsylvania landscape as one might generally think of it, as it is about how it is personally experienced and, arguably, enjoyed. The main source of light in the painting, the window, seems to diffuse its warmth throughout, as it reverberates into the porch, the softly slumbering sky above, and even the bright glistening snow below. And quite poetically, it also defuses any lingering frictions, such as the tension between the frigid outdoors and the cozy interior. Like the diaphanous curtain draping the window, it soothes and softens, blending conflicting sensations into one welcoming and perfectly arranged whole.

12:24 (Emmy at Window), 1965

12:24 (Emmy at Window), 1965