Mid-Century Tonalist Barn Landscape Painting by J. Wagner

This item is a large-format horizontal landscape oil painting on canvas, housed in its original thin wood profile frame. The artwork depicts a rustic rural scene featuring a large barn structure on a grassy knoll, a smaller outbuilding, a fence line, and a single leafless tree. The color palette is heavily tonalist, utilizing monochromatic shades of sepia, ochre, umber, and cream to evoke a sense of late-afternoon sun or atmospheric haze. A central glowing light source, likely the sun, is positioned behind a flock of birds in flight, creating high contrast with the darker silhouettes of the buildings. The painting is signed in the lower right corner with 'J. Wagner'. Technically, the work shows characteristics of mid-20th-century commercial fine art, possibly produced between 1960 and 1980. The brushwork is expressive yet deliberate, with impasto-like textures found on the grassy embankment and the stone wall of the barn. The condition appears stable with no visible tears or significant paint loss; however, there is a likely layer of surface dust and aged varnish typical for pieces of this era. The wood frame is simple and consistent with the period's decor style.