Frank Virgil Dudley, “Juniper Valley in Winter,” Oil on Canvas, c. Early 20th Century

Photograph of a painting.

The view in this winter landscape looks through a screen of bare saplings to a thicket of evergreens growing among snow-covered hills. Shadows and ripples of snow are painted in lavender. Evergreens on the far-off hillside stand in hashed rows. Modest amounts of snow have collected on some of the tree branches, and some of the smaller evergreen fronds distort under the weight. The largest tree, to the left of center, is shaped like a slingshot with a handful of extraneous branches. The sun, partially blocked by the highest, furthest back hill, hits this tree, and gives it orange highlights. This painting was part of an 1818 exhibit at the Art Institute. The show ran from May 9 – June 7. Dudley showed 30 paintings in the “Exhibition of Paintings by Frank V. Dudley: The Sand Dunes of Indiana and Vicinity.” Later in the year, “Juniper Valley in Winter” was donated to the Eagle’s Nest Art Gallery for the permanent collection.

26 3/8 x 30 1/8″

(1868-1957)

Frank Virgil Dudley was born in Wisconsin and studied art in Chicago. He took night classes with John Vanderpoel and Charles Boutwood—both of whom were known to give summer classes at the Eagle’s Nest Camp. Dudley is best known for his paintings of the Indiana Dunes. His paintings helped raise awareness about the need to preserve them.

The Indiana State Museum has seventy-two Dudley paintings.