The Shortening Winter's Day is Near a Close

Farquharson came to specialise in painting sheep in the snow, enabling him to contrast the hard, smooth finish of the snow with the soft, shaggy texture of the sheep - a contrast all the sharper because both are white. The setting sun, shining at the viewer, shows this painting to be a real test of the artist's skill in portraying the subtleties of reflected colour and tone on white surfaces. Farquharson's titles sound like quotations, but in fact are his own inventions.