Upon Gifford’s return from Colorado and Wyoming in September 1870, he resumed his interest in Hudson River subject matter, as is evident in Lake George. The artist’s sketchbook used between 1870 and 1879 is in fact full of drawings and sketches from his travels to the Catskill mountains. Ila Weiss notes about a related work, Coming Rain on Lake George: A Sketch, that it is a “record of the dramatic scene that impressed the artist in September 1873. Its balanced composition of striking tonal effects conveys at once the power and beauty of nature that inspired the artist.” This version of the setting thus exhibits a dramatic, horizontal landscape in a sublime play of light and dark. The horizon line is set in the middle of the canvas, allowing the viewer’s eye to move along the balanced yet undulating mountain baseline. The painting’s balance and solidity is enhanced by the expanse of the lake’s gray-blue water. The scene conveys a sense of calm with its soothing palette, calm water, and the presence of two manned canoes at bottom left. They drift in the water, seemingly unaware of the potentially threatening cloud mass behind them. The white of the canoes and the bright colors of the passengers’ red and yellow clothing highlight this momentary sense of calm. The brilliance of the blue sky, its reflection in the water below, and the distant view of mountains, further suffuse the painting with a sense of the grandeur and beauty of Lake George. Gifford’s palette is equally dramatic on the opposite side of the canvas. The previously bright palette of the sky, water and mountains is replaced by darker contrasts of gray and blue, and yellow and green in the landscape and water, all shrouded by looming, rain-filled clouds. The effect is that of a moving storm mass, given force by its dark, atmospheric palette, looming over the central mountains, creeping closer to the calm waters and canoers.
