A Gray Day

A weathered wooden pier stretches out over still water, with small boats moored nearby beneath a sky heavy with clouds. The whole scene is painted in soft, muted earth tones that give the water and air a quiet, overcast feel. This piece was made in 1886 using oil on panel, and it is held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The artist, William Merritt Chase (1849–1916), was an American painter associated with Impressionism. Worth noticing is how the gray light flattens the contrast between sky and water, letting the pier's rough wooden planks and the hulls of the boats emerge as the only strong textures in an otherwise hushed, subdued setting.