Snow Storm, John La Farge (1865)
John La Farge’s thick application of paint and loose brushstrokes suggest an atmosphere suffused with the chill of winter. Although nothing overtly marks this as a painting of the Civil War, there are stark allusions to it, as in the lone, weather-beaten tree with one stumped limb. La Farge also perhaps offers a poetic, hopeful detail in the early spring blossoms that force their way onto the scraggly branches, yet their blood-red color introduces ambivalence. La Farge painted this picture in the winter of 1865, months or possibly weeks before the war ended.
