LeConte Stewart (1891–1990)
North of Kamas, 1932
Oil on board
6 × 8 in.
Though modest in size, this plein air study is monumental in feeling. Painted in 1932, North of Kamas distills the fleeting grandeur of a Utah summer sky into a compact composition full of texture and tonal contrast. A golden cumulus cloud surges upward from the horizon, its peach and cream tones offset by stormy purples and cool blue shadows. Below, a swath of cultivated farmland stretches toward distant mesas and hills, rendered in rhythmic horizontal bands.
Stewart was a master of direct observation, often completing these small-scale studies outdoors in a single sitting. Here, his brisk, impasto brushwork and simplified forms evoke not only the look but the sensation of standing on the high plateau as weather builds on the horizon. Such works were essential to his artistic process, serving as both finished expressions and references for larger studio compositions.
As with many of Stewart’s landscapes, North of Kamas captures a quiet but profound dialogue between land and sky, human presence and natural grandeur—inviting the viewer to linger in the stillness between moments.
