photo #5197439

Though he studied as a portrait painter, American artist Sanford Robinson Gifford became renowned for his landscapes, most of which depict scenes from around the Hudson River Valley in the state of New York, US. The grey shreds of cloud in Mist Rising at Sunset in the Catskills (c. 1861) could more formally be classed as Stratus fractus, which have formed beneath far higher Altocumulus clouds lit by the golden evening rays. Look closely, and you might see two figures at the water’s edge. Presumably, they’re just a couple of cloudspotters wondering how best to classify the enigmatic shreds of low evening cloud.Mist Rising at Sunset in the Catskills (circa 1861) by American artist Sanford Robinson Gifford, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, US.