River Through the Everglades

Ernest Lawson first visited Florida in 1931 at the invitation of his friend and former student, Katherine Powell, and her husband Royce. He found the southern setting both mentally and creatively invigorating and "[d]uring future more or less annual visits to Florida, he painted within an approximate hundred-mile radius of Coral Gables. He accompanied the Powells when they went fishing on the inland waterways, painting while they fished. His canvases became imbued with plein air nuances, communicating colorful interpretations of the terrain with its palms, mangroves and cypress trees. The tortuously entwined, gnarled old mangroves, with their encrusted roots and pelican nests, had a special appeal for him. He compared their strivings to survive with his own." (H. Berry-Hill, S. Berry-Hill, Ernest Lawson: American Impressionist, 1873-1939, Leigh-on-sea, England, 1968, p. 46) River Through the Everglades is a superb example of Lawson's Floridian works. Here he masterfully employs a jewel-toned palette and rich, heavily worked surface to exude the humidity, tranquility and impenetrability of the place.