The Flowered Terrace

The Flowered Terrace, dated around 1883 and held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is another early work by Cross from before his Divisionist conversion, painted in a naturalist manner consistent with his late academic training. The subject of a garden terrace in bloom was a commonplace of Impressionist painting — Monet's Giverny garden would become the supreme example of this tradition — and Cross's early treatment places him within this developing genre of domestic garden observation. The panel support (shared with Homme à la barque) suggests outdoor sketch work or a study for a larger composition. Houston's holding of this work alongside Sunset on the Lagoon, Venice gives American viewers a concentrated survey of Cross's pre-Divisionist years. The flowered terrace subject — intimate, coloristically rich, warm with Mediterranean bloom — anticipates the subjects Cross would return to with the tools of Divisionism in his mature career.

The panel support and naturalist technique — fluid, tonal, responsive to Impressionist practice — contrasts with Cross's later Divisionist method. The flowering garden subject demanded attentiveness to the varied colors of bloom against green foliage and architectural terrace surfaces.