This attractive early 20th-century oil painting depicts a shepherdess herding sheep at sunset. It’s a symphony of harmonious tones laid down with short impressionistic marks.

The light is exquisitely rendered as the flock amble towards the shade - the majority lit by the last embers of the day. A sheepdog looks on from atop a raised area, well-versed in its role and working with the shepherdess.

The painting is signed illegibly but clearly by an experienced hand. The composition, confidence and brushwork suggest an academy-trained artist that also studied in Paris. Impressionism brings a poetic quality to a rural scene like this and captures a brief moment of natural serendipity.

Signed in the lower left and framed.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 25½” x 22” / 65cm x 56cm
Year of creation: c. 1910
Condition: Artwork presents well. Frame with some light wear.