# October Morning

**Frank A. Bicknell** (born Augusta, ME 1866-died Essex, CT 1943)  
ca. 1910  
oil on canvas  
32 1/8 x 39 3/8 in. (81.5 x 99.9 cm.)

Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1910.9.15. [The museum's record](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=2016).

## About this work

Frank Bicknell may have painted October Morning during one of his many stays at the artists' colony in Old Lyme, Connecticut. In a 1907 letter to Florence Griswold, who rented rooms to artists, he revealed his desire to come to the colony for both inspiration and camaraderie: "Will you stow me away somewhere in the big house about the last week in Septembre? Or the first week of Octobre at the latest? Please do not say no—Put me in the Barn if you will—but come to Lyme I must sometime this Autumn." In this painting, Bicknell captured the moment the sun rises to reveal the country landscape. Soft colors and brushstrokes, combined with the cool morning light, give the painting an otherworldly quality. Lush trees climb a small hill on the right side of the canvas. The left side is open, revealing the mountains in the distance. This asymmetrical arrangement shows the influence of Japanese woodblock prints. American impressionist painters, including Bicknell, studied these prints, experimenting with Japanese perspective and space to create compositions in which the subject was not always at the center.

_Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum._

Frank A. Bicknell painted this in about 1910, aged 44. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Frank A. Bicknell](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/frank-a-bicknell)

born Augusta, ME 1866-died Essex, CT 1943

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was 44
- Real size: about 32 × 39 in (82 × 100 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 12 × 16 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 20th century
- Subjects: Landscapes, Autumn, Morning, Time, Seasons
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1865.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1865/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/october-morning-si-saam-1910-9-15).