Hibbard’s name became synonymous with paintings of snow, yet his stays in Vermont usually lasted until late April, allowing him the opportunity to capture the transition between seasons as the slumbering trees and valleys emerged from the frost of winter, as seen in Last of the Snow, Valley View, Vermont. Rather than imbue the snow with light and color as is normally found in his winter paintings, here Hibbard casts the last lingering drifts of snow in swathes of relatively ordinary white, choosing instead to depict the late winter landscape underneath in a beautiful array of muted earth tones. The sky-blue river cuts through the barren trees and fields, leading us past the town into the deep greens and blues in the distant hills.

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Trained at the Boston Museum School, Hibbard carried forth the tenets of traditional academic art into the 20^th century. He exhibited widely in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, and launched himself in the Boston art world with a one-man exhibition at the Boston Art Club in 1916. Three years later, a show of his winter scenes at the Guild of Boston Artists received glowing reviews.

Hibbard had long been interested in snow-covered landscapes, and at the recommendation of fellow Boston artist and Fenway Studios resident William J. Kaula, he first traveled to Vermont in 1915 and was immediately taken with the mountains, valleys, and charming residents of the region. By the 1930s, Hibbard established a schedule of spending the winter months in Vermont, and the rest of the year in Rockport, Massachusetts, where he had earlier established the Rockport Summer School of Drawing and Painting. He grew to become a legendary member of the North Shore artists’ colony.

A leader in the community, he remained active in nearby Boston, and in 1965 the Guild of Boston Artists, where Hibbard had exhibited for 45 years, mounted a retrospective exhibition of his work.

Provenance:

Collection of Stephen Motyka, Rhode Island, in 2012

Eventually to a dealer on the North Shore, Massachusetts

To private collection, Irvington, Virginia, 2013 to present

Inscription:

1). (upper left verso in black) 2x – 90

2). (upper right verso in black) S(5?) – 16 – 20

3). (bottom verso in red) Property of / William Localio(?)
 

Labels:

1). Exhibited / Rockport Art Association / On: October 5 – November 11, 2012 / Show: Aldro T. Hibbard, N. A. / 12 Main Street Rockport, MA 01966

Literature:

Curtis, Judith A., A. T. Hibbard, N. A. (Rockport Art Association, 2012), illus. p. 82.
 

Exhibitions:

Aldro T. Hibbard, N. A., Rockport Art Association, Massachusetts, October 5 – November 11, 2012