Opalescent Morning (section)

A single leafy tree stands near the water's edge in this hazy riverside scene by Charles Rosen, painted in 1910. The whole picture is built from countless small dabs of paint, a method Rosen picked up from the Impressionists and Pointillists. Greens along the bank sparkle with hints of yellow, blue, and purple, while the pale sky blurs softly into the still river behind. Nothing has a firm outline, and that gentle, dreamy quality matches the title "Opalescent Morning," which points to the milky, glowing light of a foggy dawn.

Rosen made his name painting the peaceful landscapes around Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he joined a circle of artists who loved the quiet corners of the countryside. What makes this early work worth a second glance is knowing how much his style would shift later on. In time he traded these shimmering, feathery scenes for bolder shapes and heavier forms. This painting belongs to the phase when he was still fascinated by light and mist, doing his best to capture something as passing as a single morning by the river before it lifted away.