Late Glow demonstrates Hibbard’s talent for rendering the effects of light and shadow on snow, as well as his compositional prowess by using a series of gently sloping hills to bring the viewer’s eyes into and around the composition. His chosen palette of soft blues, purples, and pinks throughout the landscape signify the waning daylight and allow him to put into practice one of the most important lessons he imparted to his students: “Snow is the most sensitive subject, subtly influenced by sudden changes in light. It is never dead white!”

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Trained at the Boston Museum School, Hibbard carried forth the tenets of traditional academic art into the 20^th century. He exhibited widely in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, and launched himself in the Boston art world with a one-man exhibition at the Boston Art Club in 1916. Three years later, a show of his winter scenes at the Guild of Boston Artists received glowing reviews.

Hibbard had long been interested in snow-covered landscapes, and at the recommendation of fellow Boston artist and Fenway Studios resident William J. Kaula, he first traveled to Vermont in 1915 and was immediately taken with the mountains, valleys, and charming residents of the region. By the 1930s, Hibbard established a schedule of spending the winter months in Vermont, and the rest of the year in Rockport, Massachusetts, where he had earlier established the Rockport Summer School of Drawing and Painting. He grew to become a legendary member of the North Shore artists’ colony.

A leader in the community, he remained active in nearby Boston, and in 1965 the Guild of Boston Artists, where Hibbard had exhibited for 45 years, mounted a retrospective exhibition of his work.

Provenance:

Private collection, Medfield, Massachusetts

With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 34103, May 2004

To private collection, Irvington, Virginia, December 2004 to present

Labels:

1. Previous Vose Galleries label, inventory no. 34103
2. From / The Guild of Boston Artists / 162 Newbury Street / Boston, Mass.
3. The Guild of Boston Artists, Boston, Massachusetts / Artist’s Name: Aldro T. Hibbard / Artist’s Address: (blank) / Where To Be Returned: (blank) / Title: Late Glow / Price: $150.°° / Insurance Value: (blank) / Purchased for $125 by P. M. Hamlen / Jan 24. 1928
4. (old typed sticker) PAUL M. HAMLEN