AFA Winter 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 91 2019 During his travels through Europe in 1881, Palmer visited Venice, a place that captivated and inspired him. Palmer’s interior paintings gradually declined during this decade due mostly to his constant complaint of eyestrain. In their place he turned to painting Venetian scenes and other landscapes. He also began to experiment with different mediums and with a looser handling of paint that was more impressionistic in style. The Garden Steps , however, follows a more academic approach, with tighter brushwork and its initial design being drawn in with brown tones, as Palmer recorded in his diary. He began laying in the “brown & tints” on February 27, and finished the painting a few weeks later on March 17. Walter Launt Palmer (1854–1932), The Garden Steps, 1886. Oil on canvas, 18 x 27 inches. Albany Institute of History & Art Purchase (1985.13).