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Robert Emmett Owen American, 1878-1957 October in Connecticut Signed R. Emmett Owen (lr) Oil on canvas 24 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches Provenance: Private collection Exhibited: New York, Spanierman Gallery, LLC, The Road Less Traveled: New England Landscapes By Robert Emmett Owen, Jul. 19-Sept. 1, 2007, no 34 After settling in Bangall, Connecticut, near Stamford, in 1910, Owen developed a lively Impressionist style, influenced by the work of a previous generation of American artists. Instead of the train, the main mode of transportation used by the painters he admired- such as John Twachtman and Willard Metcalf-Owen took advantage of the automobile for the opportunities it provided for impromptu painting. Stopping by the side of the road as he traveled through New England, he sought to record the seasonal splendor of the rural scenery and the pleasure of such mobility through the countryside. This painting epitomizes an age that began an appreciation of "back road travel," the possibility of seeing places that were not on popular and well-traveled routes. Such ventures were encouraged by the "See America First" movement, which promoted domestic over foreign travel and provided maps for the growing network of automobile routes through previously inaccessible places. Here, Owen epitomizes the sentiment of this movement, conveying not only the joy of taking in autumnal finery at its peak, but also the excitement of looking forward to what might lie ahead. C The Spanierman Gallery, LLC Collection of American Art