Rather than capture the minute details of a place, Ryder enjoyed interpreting the poetic nature of the scene before him. As a contemporary critic noted: “Mr. Ryder…has sensed the right proportion between the real and the unreal, between detail and vagueness. Noticeable in all his paintings is the simplicity and balance of his composition – a harmony of colors in which there is no disturbing note – a delicate adjustment of strength and tenderness.”  These qualities of Ryder’s work are evident in Early Winter. Eschewing the impulse to record each tree branch or fluttering leaf or specific features of the homestead, Ryder opts to use spirited brushwork and broad swaths of color to render the qualities of light and atmosphere he witnessed after what may have been the first significant snowfall of the season. 

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Ryder’s work was collected by major museums during his lifetime, including the Art Institute of Chicago (1913), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1922), and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1936), and was included in distinguished private collections, including that of Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. He became a full National Academician in 1920 and was a member of the Salmagundi Club, the New York Water Color Club, and the American Water Color Society. While best known for his oils and watercolors, he was also a talented etcher and lithographer, exhibiting them with the Chicago Society of Etchers and alongside his paintings at Macbeth’s. Throughout his lifetime, Ryder continued to take part in many of the important national annuals and received numerous awards, including the silver medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915 and the gold medal at the Paris International Exposition in 1937.

Provenance:

With Christie's, New York, September 27, 1990, Lot 221

Presumably by purchase to William Postar, Boston, Massachusetts

With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 30096, October 1990

Returned to William Postar, Boston, Massachusetts, December 1990

Eventually to collection of Robert C. Vose, Jr., Duxbury, Massachusetts, possibly shortly after December 1990

By descent to collection of Abbot W. and Marcia L. Vose, Duxbury, Massachusetts, 1998 to present

Inscription:

(in black on wood panel backing) 1004

Labels:

1. (handwritten label) N° 38
2. (handwritten artist's label) Early Winter / Chauncey F. Ryder / (illegible address)—NYC / (stamp) 1004
3. Grand Central Art Galleries / 15 Vanderbilt Avenue / New York, N. Y. / No. 2613 / Artist: CHAUNCEY F. RYDER / Title: "EARLY WINTER" / Price: $1500. Size: 28/36 / Bin No.: (handwritten) B 29
4. Previous Vose Galleries label,  inventory no. 30096