Walter Launt Palmer, N.A. (American, 1854-1932), "Late Spring Thaw", watercolor on imprinted paper, signed, dated "April. 23rd 1887", and with presentation inscription below lower right corner of image, sheet 9 in. x 6 3/8 in., approximate image 3 1/2 in. x 5 in., floated in a modern mat and frame. E1200-2000 Provenance: Mrs. A. B. Stone, 1887 (dedicatory inscription). Note: The presentation of this highly accomplished and remarkably compelling image appears to suggest an ad hoc origin. Palmer, evidently faced with an unexpected but dazzling scene of low morning light with strong chiaroscuro and luminous reflections (perhaps while visiting, away from his studio), seems to have cast about for a suitable sheet of watercolor paper, and to have found this daily calendar page, imprinted with (the previous?) date of "August 1". Possibly traveling with his watercolor pigments, or perhaps even more plausibly improvising with red, brown and blue inks since the ink of his inscription matches exactly the more concentrated purplish-blue in the immediately adjacent grasses), he seems to have executed this breathtaking record of an immediate effect of sunlight on snow, using only the ordinary materials readily at hand. The skill of such a tour-de-force may have especially impressed "Mrs. Stone" to whom he dedicated this brilliant record of late-April morning. Son of the famous American sculptor E. D. Palmer, W. L. Palmer studied with Frederic Church in New York in 1870, and exhibited at the National Academy of Design from 1872; he was elected an Associate, and won a prize there, in 1887, the year of this drawing; many other international honors followed, including medals at Chicago (1893), Philadelphia (1894), and Paris (1900), as well as full N. A. membership in 1897.