As a boy, and later as an artist, Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald was captivated by the penetrating prairie light and the change of seasons. Summer Afternoon, The Prairie is FitzGerald’s first painting of consequence to tackle the vast expanse of low horizon and big sky that characterize the prairie landscape.

In showing the prairie as a form of Arcadia, FitzGerald helped to foster the notion of Western Canada as a beautiful and inviting place. The landscape offered more than economic benefits: it was dominated by nature’s glorious majesty and a sense of freedom.