1939

A Snowy Night

American, 1879 - 1953

In 1902 George Sotter took a leave of absence from his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia to study plein air (open air) painting at his rural home outside the city, near Center Bridge, Bucks County. Sotter settled permanently in the area in 1919 and developed a reputation for painting nocturnal winter views that contrast the chilly beauty of the countryside with the reassuring lamp-lit windows of the region’s stone houses. He was also an accomplished stained-glass designer. In A Snowy Night, the brilliance of the lighted window and the glow created by the stars and snow convey a sensitivity to light that perhaps derives from the artist’s experience with stained glass.