Alfred Maurer was among the first American artists to embrace European modernist approaches to painting, influenced by his exposure to Paris's avant-garde circles at the turn of the 20th century. Throughout his career, Maurer worked in diverse styles, ranging from figurative works in Tonalist and Aesthetic modes to experiments with Fauvism and Cubism. The present painting exemplifies his dramatic shift from earlier muted Tonalist works to the bold colors and simplified forms characteristic of Fauvism.

Maurer's immersion in Paris's cutting-edge artistic circles profoundly shaped his artistic development. The painting's non-naturalistic colors and spontaneous brushwork echo Henri Matisse's revolutionary approach, demonstrating Maurer's thorough absorption of Fauvist principles. This stylistic affinity reflects Maurer's position as one of the first American artists to embrace such radical European modernist techniques and hone a uniquely American aesthetic.

The present landscape typifies the Fauvist landscapes Maurer exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery, 291, in a landmark 1909 New York exhibition. Shown alongside fellow modernist John Marin, Maurer presented fifteen Fauvist paintings, each simply titled "sketch in oil." Artist-photographer Edward Steichen, who organized the exhibition, described Maurer's works to Stieglitz as "howlers of color." Stieglitz noted the exhibition's impact: "overrun with people... All the famous artists of New York rushed up to see them... There was Henri and Glackens and Davies, Sloane [sic], even Luks, Bellows, there was Prendergast..." [1]

[1] Dorothy Norman, Alfred Stieglitz: An American Seer, Millerton: Aperture, 1960, p. 72