4 Atmosphere

Another Tonalist painting is Alexander Harrison's Olive Trees, painted in Brittany in 1909. It demonstrates the artist's skill in creating a vibrant atmosphere where every aspect of the landscape seems to have a mystical aura. 

This painting had a significant impact on Marcel Proust, who was fascinated by Harrison's Tonalist landscapes and even based a character on the artist in his novel, ‘Remembrance of Things Past’.

William Anderson Coffin's Sunset Trees, painted around 1890, depicts a hot summer sunset in Pennsylvania. The artist skillfully captures the atmosphere of the scene by using diagonal lines to guide the viewer's gaze. 

In contrast, William Gedney Bunce's Nocturne Venice, painted in 1890, portrays a moonlit evening on the lagoon. The air feels filled with saltwater, creating bands of patterned light.

Arthur B. Davies' Surfside, painted around 1910, has a minimalist style that emphasises the sand, tides, and sky. The monochromatic background adds to the all-encompassing atmosphere of the painting. 

Charles Harry Eaton's Gloaming, painted around 1890, depicts a sunset with a blur of green tones and glazed water-reflected light. The painting evokes the fading heat of the day.

Charles Warren Eaton's Twilit Sky, painted around 1910, shows how a skilled watercolorist can capture the intense light of evening. 

The artist uses innovative blotting techniques to create a streaky and granular quality in the fading sky. Ben Foster's Rainy Autumn Day, painted in 1914, portrays a rainy fall afternoon. 

The blurred forms create mesmerising (dazzle, bewitch, charm...) patterns across the landscape, leading the eye towards the grey sky and Connecticut's Cornwall hills.

J. Francis Murphy's October Mist of 1906 creates a dramatic depiction of weather effects. The heavy mist covers the scene, saturating the colours and creating beautifully modulated paint marks. 

The mist itself becomes the subject of the painting, transforming the paint into air.

Critics of the time often praised Tonalist artworks for their skilful portrayal of atmospheric qualities. 

They noted how the landscapes seemed softened and veiled, creating a sense of peace and simplicity. 

The Tonalists were particularly interested in capturing the specific seasonal and climatic circumstances of the scenes they painted, evoking subjective feelings in their viewers. 

One example of this is Arthur Bowen Davies' Blue Distance, painted in 1926, which takes this fascination with atmosphere to the extreme, making the air itself the subject and object of the painting.