catalog text
JOHN CARLETON WIGGINS (AMERICAN, 1848-1932)
Sheep grazing along forest path with Shepherd, Oil on Canvas, signed “Carleton Wiggins 1883” lower right
Item # 605PTC21A
A complex and vivid panorama set in a Normandy forest, this fine painting depicts a Shepherd with his dog watching over a large flock of sheep as they stroll along a leafy path. Only brief patches of grass poke through the carpeted path while the twisting and knarled trunks of old growth wood rise around them. It is an overcast autumn day with a large portion of the trees having been emptied of leafage. The piece is heavily influenced by the Barbizon school with a certain heaviness often found in Dutch works of the same period. The warm colors, high chroma grasses and golden leaves are a striking juxtaposition against the achromatic sky and charcoal trees with their long shadows. Each sheep is finely painted and detailed, while the Shepherd is captured only as an impression; only a glimpse of a human being while his charges are rendered most carefully. This was a typical method for Wiggins, who only infrequently painted figures in his scenes, as his clear focus was on the animal and its habitat.
Measurements: [canvas] 16” H x 35 7/8” W; [frame] 21” H x 41” W
Condition Report:
Original lining. Professionally conserved, surface cleaned and in gorgeous presentation-ready condition. Newly framed.