Constance Cochrane, Drama of Fall

Drama of Fall depicts the crags and sloping hills of Monhegan Island, twelve miles off the Maine shore. The purple rocks, green trees, and distant blue sea with a tiny lighthouse in the far corner contrast with the warm orange shrubbery and pint-tinted sky. The artist’s vigorous brushwork captures the rugged scenery, wind, and light of Maine in autumn.

Constance Cochrane first visited Monhegan Island in 1921; she returned every summer and eventually purchased a home and studio there. The island has inspired many artists since the nineteenth century when it was home to an art colony whose members included Robert Henri, George Bellows, and Edward Hopper. Fellow impressionist Mary Butler’s rendering of Monhegan’s rocky shore can be found in our collections as well.

Cochrane studied with Elliot Daingerfield and Henry B. Snell at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now Moore College of Art & Design). She was an exhibiting member of the Philadelphia Ten along with Fern Isabel Coppedge, Nancy Maybin Ferguson, and Elizabeth Price.