New Year's Eve
Date1928
Artist
Stanley Massey Arthurs
(American painter, 1877–1950)
Illustration CitationAdvertising calendar for Brown and Bigelow, 1928. Reproduced in The American Historical Scene as Depicted by Stanley Arthurs (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1935)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions35 1/2 × 26 3/8 in. (90.2 × 67 cm)
frame: 45 1/2 × 36 3/8 in. (115.6 × 92.4 cm)
frame: 45 1/2 × 36 3/8 in. (115.6 × 92.4 cm)
Credit LineLouisa du Pont Copeland Memorial Fund, 1930
Object number1930-1
On View
On viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextIn this scene, a New England watchman calls at an inn to announce the time and weather on New Year's Eve. Stanley Arthurs studied with Howard Pyle, who praised his "genuine sympathy for a particular historical period and an exacting episode within it." Here, although the watchman's emergency rattle slung over his shoulder suggests the need for constant vigilance in colonial America, Arthurs paints a reassuring vignette of an inviting inn--the Traveller's Rest--and picturesque town in the moonlight. While details such as the blowing sign and lamp add authentic notes, the colors are more emotive than realistic.
