Winter Scene

William H. Titcomb (1824–1888)
New Hampshire, 1851
Oil on canvas
28 ½ x 36 3/8 in.
Gift of Ralph May
1971.590

With its smoking chimney on a snow-covered house and its sunset-tinged sky, William Titcomb’s depiction of a wintery New Hampshire landscape is iconic. Children play on a pond as a farmer leads home his ox pulling a sledge filled with the lumber he has cut down for next year’s use. As appealing as the scene is, the approaching cloud cover in the distance and the fallen tree in the foreground are troubling.