Winslow Homer, "The Bridle Path, White Mountains," 1868

Homer's bridal path is a subtle arrangement of soft blues, yellows, greens and greys, with wonderful touches of brighter colour here and there. The blues of the woman's ribbon, and her saddle blanket, the reds of the signature which proudly proclaims Homer's membership of the National Academy, the blanket's edge, and the jacket of the rider who disappears around the rocks on the right. Homer visited the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the setting for this painting, in the summer of 1868. But unlike other contemporary American painters, he chose not to celebrate solely the splendours of the landscape. Instead, the painting records the relatively new phenomena of rural tourism and increasing female independence. Right in the centre of the canvas, a young woman sits side saddle on a horse that picks its way carefully down a mountain path. Homer has placed the horse and rider against the sun, so that light shines across the woman's back and shoulder, and outlines the horse's legs. But the woman's face remains veiled in shadow. Her expression is consequently unreadable. Two other riders have gone on ahead, others lag a little way behind. One of these, a hazy figure on the left side of the composition, seems to be waving at the woman, but either she hasn't heard him, or she is pretending not to hear. Perhaps she is lost in her own thoughts, engaged in a moment of quiet contemplation.