A Big Pine Lake

The necromancy of early morning light holds a fascination for the landscape painter that he cannot escape if he would. He is forever trying to perform the same magic on canvas. Sometimes he succeeds. Payne’s success with A Big Pine Lake, whose delicately resonant theme was found in the High Sierras, is amazing. Here is nature—here is light—seen through a temperament. It is art of the highest. The mountain wall shows amethyst of a crystal clarity. The lower cliffs to the right are gray-pink with sunlight. The vivid green of trees and grass gives the entire canvas a sparkle of light.