After his initial 1915 visit to Vermont, the artist returned there every winter, eventually settling into a home near East Jamaica with his wife Winifred and their two children. He explored throughout the state in search of inspiration, from the secluded hamlets near the Canadian border to the streams, forests and mountains of southern Vermont’s West River Valley. First handled by Vose Galleries in 1925, Winter in the Hills likely depicts a scene found not too far from his Jamaica homestead and exhibits the broken color brushwork of the artist’s early work. Hibbard’s sensitive rendering of the impressive granite peaks overlooking a cluster of houses in the valley below, and his clever use of the curve of the winding river to bring the viewer into the scene, speak to the qualities that resonated with collectors when he launched his successful career nearly a century ago.

More information about this painting...

Provenance:

Estate of private collector, Boston, Massachusetts

With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 6937, February 1925

To private collection, Boston, Massachusetts, January 1926

Eventually to private collection, Missouri, by 2020

Inscription:

1. (on frame, at left and bottom, in faded dark crayon) No 30
2. (on frame at right, in black crayon) ELY #20

Labels:

1. (top stretcher) T. G. Buckley Co. / 690 Dudley St., Boston, Mass / Inventory / Lot / No. 10,228 –(rest of label is missing)
2. Debra Force Fine Art, Inc., New York, New York, with painting description
3. (top stretcher) Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration (Chicago, IL)