Snow in New York

Robert Henri

National Gallery of Art

A snowy street with a horse and carriage is flanked to each side by tall buildings in this vertical painting. The overcast scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout, so some details are difficult to make out. The buildings to each side are painted in tones of coffee and earth brown along the street, and oatmeal brown and slate gray for the buildings farther from us. Two-story houses with steps leading down to the street line the composition to each side, and the taller buildings beyond stretch off the top edge of the canvas. Closest to us and to our right, the horse and carriage move away from us. Painted with a few strokes in black, golden yellow, and crimson red, people walk or stand along both sides of the street. A single lamppost stands about halfway back along the street to our left. The globe dangles from the curved top of the lamppost. The snow is painted in tones of ivory and cream white. In the distance, the sky between the buildings is parchment brown. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner, “Robert Henri Mar 5 1902.”