John H. Chamberlain

active in 1947

Explore Selected Works

American 19th Century, Farmhouse in Mahantango Valley, late 19th century, oil on canvas, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1953.5.94

Farmhouse in Mahantango Valley

American 19th Century · late 19th century · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1953.5.94

We look down at a cluster of three farm buildings and across grassy fields that stretch into the distance in this horizontal landscape painting. A parchment-yellow road angles from the lower center of the composition into the upper right corner, where it meets the horizon line just below the upper edge of the painting. Closest to us, the buildings flank the road, with two barns to our left and a house to our right. The buildings all have burgundy-red roofs. The barns have brown siding, and the house has paler, tan siding. The buildings are surrounded by blue or red fences. The barns to our left have large doors and two windows are visible on one of the sides facing us. A two-story, turquoise-blue bird house is affixed to the side of the barn closer to us. To our right, the house has windows piercing both levels, and a porch facing the road, to our left. Birds gather on the roof of the house, and an American flag flies beyond the back corner of the house. A black horse and two red horses, four cows and bulls, two dogs, a dozen chickens, and two pigs occupy different areas of the fenced-in spaces around the buildings. A man stands near the dogs next to the house, and a person wearing a red-edged black garment and a red cap stands on the road between the structures. In the fields beyond, people ride horses or hunt, horses graze, and a cow frolics with a dog. More buildings dot the landscape, which is farther divided into plots of land by stone walls, black fences, and more roads. Rows of stylized trees grow in straight lines in a grove to our left. Birds and deer walk or stand among the trees, and two people stand nearby, holding rifles. The slopes of indigo-blue hills rise along the horizon, at the top of the painting. The sky to the left of blue hills is mauve pink, streaked with black clouds. The rest of the sky is pale shell pink and ivory. Many of the animals and the architectural elements are outlined in black and filled in with flat areas of color. The weave of the window shade on which this is painted is visible in many areas.
American 19th Century, Mahantango Valley Farm, late 19th century, oil on window shade, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1953.5.93

Mahantango Valley Farm

American 19th Century · late 19th century · oil on window shade ·  Accession ID  1953.5.93