Nightfall

Russell Chatham

By the early 1980s Marin County native Russell Chatham had relocated to Montana, living at various times in Bozeman and Livingston. It was soon after this move that he found commercial success as a painter, his clientele hailing from the elite Hollywood crowd that had taken up residences in Montana - Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, Robert Redford, and others. Though he was glad for the success, he wanted to create works that could be sold to a wider audience, and he taught himself various printmaking techniques.

This is likely an image of a Montana landscape, perhaps in winter. However, Chatham was known for working from memory and there are aspects of this piece that harken to his time in the small coastal villages of northern California. Smokey blues and purples are offset by a turquoise sky filled with movement illustrated by a thin cloud layer. Chatham's signature atmopheric style sings in "Nightfall," allowing the viewer to be carried into the peaceful landscape.