Edwin Evans (1860-1946), The Calf, 1899, oil on canvas, 28 x 34 1/8 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, gift of Maria Winder, 1928.
In this charming portrayal of bucolic rural life, two boys crouch down to feed a white calf in an Utah farmyard in the summer months. The peaceful beauty of the scene is enhanced by the effects of bright sunlight and dappled shade, painted in subtly broken brushstrokes. In idealized renderings of cows and farmyards like this one, Edwin Evans omits rusty farm implements, dilapidated buildings, and unkempt grounds that form part of actual rural landscapes. Evans employed techniques from his studies in France to create this light-filled impressionist canvas.