Wild Parsley

A carpet of wildflowers spreads across the forest floor in Sarah Paxton Ball Dodson's Wild Parsley, where clusters of white blossoms scatter through the grass like flecks of light. Slender trees stretch upward into a soft, misty background, their trunks fading gently into the haze. Small dabs of blue, orange, and green mark other flowers tucked among the undergrowth, giving the whole scene a gentle, lived-in feel. This is a painting more concerned with atmosphere and mood than crisp lines or dramatic views.

Born in Philadelphia in 1847, Dodson built much of her career in Europe, studying in Paris and picking up the loose, airy brushwork that French painters favored in the late 1800s. That training comes through here in the soft edges and dreamy, damp quality of the woodland. Rather than reaching for a sweeping grand landscape, she turned her attention to a modest patch of ground and painted it with real tenderness, finding beauty in the ordinary tangle of plants at her feet.