High Noon in the Alps

A deep blue sky takes up nearly the upper half of the picture. Below it, the ridgeline of distant rocky mountains runs across, and a flock of sheep grazes on the meadow in the foreground. The girl, in a straw hat, leans against the trunk of a half-fallen birch and stands with a staff in one hand. Dark shadows fall at her feet, showing the strength of the midday light.

Seen up close, both sky and meadow are painted with thin strokes of unmixed color placed side by side. This technique is called Divisionism; from a distance the colors blend in the eye, producing a feeling of bright, clear light. The girl's blue clothing echoes the blue of the sky and the yellow-green of the meadow, and the whole picture is unified in a single tonality.

Giovanni Segantini grew up in northern Italy and was later captivated by the Swiss Alps, where he continued to paint mountain life and nature. This work dates from 1892, when he was trying to capture the light of the high pastures with this technique.

The Ohara Museum of Art, which holds the work, is a private museum opened in 1930 by the Kurashiki businessman Ohara Magosaburo. Its foundation was the Western art collected by the painter Kojima Torajiro, who traveled to Europe with Magosaburo's support.