Barbizon Landscape with a Country Road

Oil on canvas, 18 x 23 1/2 inches, in a very fine period gilt and gesso frame. There is a partial obscure signature and date in the painting lower right, the early label on the back is from the gallery of Charles G. Calder who was a well known Providence, R.I. painting dealer, also on the back is a partial label from Whitaker studios. This is a fine Barbizon style landscape painting by American artist George William Whitaker. Whitaker was a teacher and important painter in Providence R.I. and was known as an American tonalist, influenced by George Inness and Alexander Wyant. At a young age he traveled to Paris where his paintings became heavily influenced by the Barbizon painters of the Fontainebleu, especially the talented Francois Millet. George Whitaker's excellence in art is equaled to his contribution to the development of a Rhode Island art community. He was instrumental in recognizing the need for an organization to nurture and support the talented artists within the state. The Providence Art Club was formally instituted in 1880 by Whitaker and his friends Sydney Burleigh, E.M. Bannister and Charles Walter Stetson.