Winter Scene with the Sun Setting Behind Trees 1880 - 1930

Louis Apol painted this Winter Scene with the Sun Setting Behind Trees, presumably in the late 19th or early 20th century, with oil on canvas. Apol’s palette is so beautifully muted; it’s all soft greys, browns, and muted golds. The painting seems to have emerged slowly, built up with thin layers of paint. It gives the entire scene an ethereal, dreamlike quality. I can imagine Apol returning to this canvas day after day, each session informed by his own emotional state. Look closely at the trees in the background; they’re not just painted, they're felt. There is a quiet, melancholic mood about the work, and the painting’s subtle brushwork and tonal harmony really speak to Apol’s sensitivity. Winter scenes were a common subject then, but here, it feels like Apol isn’t just painting a landscape. He’s painting a feeling, an atmosphere, a state of mind. It reminds me a little of Whistler or even some of the Barbizon painters, who were all trying to capture the poetry of everyday life. I like to think about them all in conversation with one another across time.