Winter Whiteout

A fine example of painting in a tonalist style.

Thank you for sending me an image of your winter landscape painting by the American artist Gilbert Riswold (1911-2001). It is an appropriate painting for this time of year as it depicts a blizzard with near white-out conditions, such as our recent “Blizzard of 2010” in December. It is a terrific painting that appears to be in excellent condition and is executed in oil on canvas.

Gilbert Riswold was born in 1911, grew up in Chicago, Ill., and later moved to Lincoln, Maine. Riswold was most known for his illustration work in books, magazines and advertisements. He was the son of Gilbert P. Riswold (originally Risvold), a sculptor with work in the inventory of American sculpture at the Smithsonian Institution. Certainly growing up in an artistic home played a role in the younger Riswold’s development and encouragement as an artist.

This painting is done in the tonalist style. Tonalism was developed in the late 19th century from the often-moody and darker Barbizon school paintings as a part of the Impressionist movement. Riswold used his paint to give a tonal, atmospheric quality to this well-accomplished scene that appears to have been painted in the 1950s. In addition, I enjoyed your story about being excited to start collecting; I hope more people made it their New Year’s resolution, too! Collecting fine art and antiques is not only something that is fun and enriching, but also is proven to be a good investment.

As your painting is in overall excellent condition, I would estimate the value of this work at $2,500.