Tom Roberts, Late Winter; Ottawa Valley depicts a broad, snow-covered rural landscape beneath a pale, softly broken winter sky. A long red barn with a heavy blanket of snow across its roof dominates the middle ground, its warm colour standing in vivid contrast to the surrounding whites and cool greys. To the right, a small white farmhouse and secondary buildings sit quietly near a line of bare, leafless trees whose dark trunks rise starkly from the snow.

In the foreground, a frozen pond or flooded field becomes the centre of activity. A lively group of children, dressed in bright winter clothing, skate and play hockey across the reflective ice. Their small figures—marked by flashes of red, blue, and orange—introduce movement and energy into the otherwise still winter setting. The paint is applied with loose, confident brushwork, especially in the snow and sky, giving the surface a tactile, animated quality.

Low, rolling hills in muted purples, browns, and soft greys rise in the background, lightly dusted with snow and softened by atmospheric distance. Late Winter; Ottawa Valley captures the quiet beauty of rural winter alongside the warmth of community and childhood play, balancing stillness with motion in a distinctly Canadian landscape.