WILSON HURLEY (American, 1924-2008). Sunlight on Falling Rain. Oil on canvas. 30 x 48 inches (76.2 x 121.9 cm). Signed l...

Description

WILSON HURLEY (American, 1924-2008)
Sunlight on Falling Rain
Oil on canvas
30 x 48 inches (76.2 x 121.9 cm)
Signed lower left: Wilson Hurley
Artist's label verso.

For master landscape painter, Wilson Hurley, the land and sky of New Mexico with their constantly changing colors and tones, were an endless source of inspiration. From his home tucked into the foothills of the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, Hurley could observe and study the drama of an approaching thunderstorm, the nuances that a fading evening light created on the darkening landscape, or the bright colors of distant mountains lit by the noonday sun. He turned those daily observations into panoramic paintings that deftly captured the natural beauty of the world around him. Hurley was a true Renaissance man; a graduate of West Point, he was a pilot, engineer, and successful attorney before taking up art as a full time pursuit. As a young artist, he sharpened his eye for detail and his general technique under the tutelage of Santa Fe artist Theodore Van Soelen.

In "Sunlight on Falling Rain," Hurley demonstrates his ability to infuse the New Mexican landscape with a sense of high drama while at the same time capturing the beauty and grandeur of nature. He fills the foreground with highly realistic details of rock and foliage and skillfully leads the viewer's eye toward the storm on the horizon. The bright white sunlight shining through the storm serves as a counterpoint to the blues, grays, and pinks of the thunderhead which anchors the entire frame of the painting. Hurley's ability to convey the enormous power of a thunderstorm and the subtle colorations of the landscape below in a single scene sets him apart as one of the most accomplished painters of the modern era.



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