“Evening Scene with Full Moon and Persons”
For today, a dreamy nightscape…
“Evening Scene with Full Moon and Persons” is an oil on canvas painting by the English Sublime and Romantic artist, Abraham Pether, from 1801. Though he was well versed in a variety of fields, he is mostly known for his paintings of moonlit landscapes. During his life, he was given the affectionate nickname of “Moonlight” Pether.
In this painting, Pether depicts an evening scene along a river. A full moon lights the view by reflecting off the water and illuminating the edges of the clouds around it. Three people can be seen in discussion along the water’s edge at the bottom left. One of the figures is holding a basket and walking stick, while a dog is standing at attention by their feet. A horse and two cows balance out of the scene at the bottom right. Two sailboats can be seen in the distance, dark spots against the lit-up water. There is a house barely visible on the far left. The house on the right shows signs of life with a lit-up window and smoke coming out of the chimney. We are in a well settled land, but still far from any urban center. The overall feeling is peacefulness. It is a pastoral dreamscape.
Pether’s landscapes depicted the pastoral scenery of rural England. He was well versed in depicting mountains, rivers, fire, and a variety of architecture. However, his moonlit scenes were the most well-received and brought him the most fame success. His depictions of the night sky were accurate, with faithful renditions of the celestial bodies as seen from southern England.
Pether helped popularize night scenes in landscapes. Other artists known for their night paintings include Aert van der Neer, Jean-François Millet, John Atkinson Grimshaw, and J. M. W. Turner.
“Evening Scene with Full Moon and Persons” was last sold on May 13, 2013, by the Bruun Rasmussen auction house in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2013. It is currently in a private collection.
For more on Abraham Pether, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
