'Quebec Barn in Laurentian Hills,' a 1948 oil on panel by Peter Haworth, is an exploration of form and color, measuring 10.5 x 13.5 inches with the artist’s signature etched...
"Quebec Barn in Laurentian Hills," a 1948 oil on panel by Peter Haworth, is an exploration of form and color, measuring 10.5 x 13.5 inches with the artist’s signature etched into the bottom right. This landscape captures the rugged charm of the Laurentian Mountains through a modernist lens.
Haworth portrays the interplay between human settlement and the vast, undulating wilderness. The central barn structures, rendered in simple geometric shapes, are dwarfed by the grandeur of the sweeping hills that envelop them. The hills themselves are a tapestry of bold blues and earthy browns, their layered, striated patterns suggesting the relentless forces that shaped them.
The sky above is a rhythm of blues and soft whites, its striations echoing the mountains' lines and bringing a harmonious balance to the composition. This visual connection emphasizes the natural flow between sky and land. The light appears to be fading, casting elongated shadows and enriching the colors with a sense of the day's end.
Haworth's style reduces the landscape to its essential forms, stripping away the unnecessary to focus on the raw beauty of the scene. This painting is not just a depiction of a place, but an interpretation of it, where the artist’s perspective on nature’s geometry offers viewers a new way to see the familiar world.