Thomas Matteison | The Coming Storm

This oil on canvas attributed to Thomas Matteson, titled “The Coming Storm,” depicts figures preparing for an approaching squall, set against a darkening sky and windswept landscape. The gathering clouds, low light, and tense but ordered arrangement of people and structures create a sense of anticipation rather than chaos, capturing the moment just before nature fully breaks loose. The composition balances narrative detail with broad atmospheric effects, giving the scene both emotional weight and a distinctly American rural character.

Thomas Matteson of South Shaftsbury, Vermont, is best known today as an early 19th-century American folk artist and decorative painter, celebrated for his exuberantly grain-painted furniture rather than easel pictures. His signed and attributed chests, tall clocks, and blanket boxes—often in boldly patterned mustard, green, red, and brown—are now regarded as touchstones of New England folk art. Examples of his work are held in notable collections including The Henry Ford (Dearborn, MI), Old Sturbridge Village, and Historic Deerfield, and his “Matteson” pieces have been discussed and exhibited by the American Folk Art Museum. His furniture appears regularly at respected Americana and folk-art auctions, where it remains highly sought after by collectors. While “The Coming Storm” is an uncommon oil-on-canvas work attributed to Matteson, it can be seen as extending the same keen decorative sense and atmospheric sensitivity that make his painted furniture so distinctive.