George William Sotter

(American, 1879-1953)

Roadside House

oil on canvas

signed G. W. Sotter (lower left)

13 1/2 x 16 in.

Property from the Collection of Renny Reynolds

Lot Note:

The three works by George Sotter in the Reynolds Collection offer the full array of the artist’s evocative Bucks County landscapes, engaging viewers on a deeper level, beyond mere description, calling forth the psyche of the place. Sotter conjured this psyche in atmospheric ways, by way of nocturnal scenes and expansive vistas in all seasons, subtly manifesting the locale by eliciting an emotional response from the beholder, one focused on feelings of familiarity and comfort.

Roadside House is a glistening winter nocturne, the kind that Sotter was expert at creating, in which light and dark interplay in soothing ways. At first glance, contrasting color schemes seem to vie for dominance. Indeed, just as the cottage is shrouded in thick darkness and framed by the silhouettes of skeletal trees, it is also softly cushioned by a vivid bed of snow. But far from jarring, the mood is peaceful. The cottage’s coziness prevails amidst these tenebrous and glacial conditions, suffusing the scene with improbable yet evident warmth. Comfort is to be found within, inside the glowing windows, and beyond, in the stars dotting the pitch-dark sky, perpetually casting their attentive light above.

Country Road at Twilight (Lot 20) is a masterful pictorial essay on darkness. There is only one, very faint, source of light, tucked away in a window, off center, threatened to be engulfed by dense vegetation climbing on the façade. With little counterbalance, darkness is made palpable through broken brushwork hopping from lighter to darker shades of green, blue and gray. And yet, its weight evaporates. Sotter gives it texture, thereby revealing its nuances. Here, darkness does not obscure everything; the path, the houses, the trees are still distinct, where they are expected to be found. And just like them, darkness becomes part of the familiar landscape. While total darkness may suggest remoteness or impenetrability, it also signifies complete quietude, one that the Bucks County locals know and cherish, and one that the viewer is invited to experience by following the unlit path with knowing eyes accustomed to the dark.

Windybush Valley (Lot 19) is a sprawling vista of Bucks County in winter, composed of interlocking shapes and shades, piecing together, in the fashion of a quilt, a landscape of rolling hills. The viewer stands atop one such hill, observing the sweeping landscape unfold. The immediate vicinity showcases relief, with the towering trees and the brush poking through the snow. But the landscape slowly flattens beyond, the work of the snow leveling the ground, and of perspective. It is however also suggestive of a geography that is deeply rooted in the locale, one that the gaze sweeps in one gesture and appropriates, like the mapping of an intimate survey of the landscape. The view from the top of the hill is grandiose, but it is also homey. As the gaze takes in the Bucks County region, it takes stock of both its vastness and familiar layout, like the patterns of a hand-quilted fabric passed down generation after generation.