{"product_id":"little-ranch-colorado-by-ernest-lawson","title":"Little Ranch, Colorado by Ernest Lawson","description":"Ernest Lawson\u003cbr\u003e 1873-1939 | Canadian-American \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eLittle Ranch, Colorado\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Signed \"E. Lawson\" (lower right)\u003cbr\u003e Signed, titled and inscribed \"119 East 19th St \/ N.Y. City\" (en verso)\u003cbr\u003e Oil on canvas board \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This richly atmospheric landscape by Ernest Lawson captures a quiet ranching scene at the base of a Colorado mountain. Painted circa 1925–1930, the composition reflects Lawson’s mature Impressionist vision, where the scene dissolves into layered color and texture. Rustic buildings and grazing livestock anchor the foreground, while the sweeping hillside rises behind them in a tapestry of deep greens, blues and violets beneath a softly clouded sky. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Lawson builds the surface with his characteristic impasto, applying paint in thick, expressive strokes that emphasize the physicality of the landscape. The work most likely depicts a ranch in the Colorado Springs foothills, probably in the Broadmoor or Cheyenne Mountain area, where Lawson painted while teaching at the Broadmoor Art Academy in the late 1920s. Here, light and color become the true subjects, as the rolling terrain and clustered ranch structures emerge from a dense, vibrating surface. The result balances natural description with a heightened sense of mood and rhythm. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A key figure in early 20th-century American painting, Lawson was associated with The Eight and exhibited widely as part of the broader shift toward modern realism and Impressionism in the United States. Born in Nova Scotia in 1873, he later trained at the Art Students League in New York and in Paris at the Académie Julian, where exposure to Impressionist methods shaped his lifelong commitment to plein air landscape painting. His work occupies a distinctive position between Impressionism and realism, defined by its emphasis on structure, atmosphere and painterly surface rather than strict representation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the late 1920s, Lawson taught at the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs, where this work was almost certainly painted. The painting's setting matches the foothills of this region, perhaps depicting a small ranch near Cheyenne Mountain. Today Lawson is recognized as one of the leading American landscape painters of the early 20th century, and his works belong to major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art and more. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Circa 1925–1930 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Canvas: 11 3\/4\" high x 15\" wide (29.9 x 38.1 cm)\u003cbr\u003e Frame: 20\" high x 24\" wide x 2\" deep (50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Provenance:\u003cbr\u003e Private collection, Colorado\u003cbr\u003e Private collection, Minnesota\u003cbr\u003e M.S. Rau, New Orleans","brand":"M.S. Rau","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44719426863239,"sku":"32-2639","price":29850.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0083\/2471\/0466\/files\/32-2639_1.png?v=1781378488","url":"https:\/\/rauantiques.com\/products\/little-ranch-colorado-by-ernest-lawson","provider":"M.S. Rau","version":"1.0","type":"link"}