Orange Sky with Scattered Clouds, Greece
February 22, 1878
Medium
Oil on card
Dimensions
22.4 × 31.8 cm (8 7/8 × 12 9/16 in.)
Classification
drawings (visual works)
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
210189
Art Historical Context
Lockwood de Forest’s “Orange Sky with Scattered Clouds, Greece” captures a fleeting moment of Mediterranean light on February 22, 1878. The small scale of this oil-on-card study—only 22.4 by 31.8 centimeters—suggests it was created as a portable sketch, allowing the artist to work directly outdoors and record atmospheric effects with speed and immediacy. De Forest, an American landscape painter who traveled widely, used the compact card support to experiment with vibrant color and loose brushwork. The glowing orange sky against scattered clouds reveals his interest in the dramatic light and c...
About the Artist
Lockwood de Forest · 1850–1932
American painter, interior designer and furniture designer. A key figure in the Aesthetic Movement, he introduced the East Indian craft revival to Gilded Age America. His father was Henry Grant de Forest, and his son worked professionally as Lockwood de Forest, Jr., though the son's birth name is Lockwood de Forest, III.