Preston Dickinson painted The Hills a few years after he returned to New York from France. He admired the work of the French modernist painters, especially Paul Cezanne, who transformed his subjects into simple shapes and planes of color. Dickinson composed this landscape from triangles and curves, and even the clouds reflect the shapes of the hills and buildings. The expressive brushstrokes and vibrant color evoke an energetic, windswept day in the countryside of New York.