Nov 13, 2012 11:00 EST
European, American, Modern & Contemporary Art
316
Edmund Charles Tarbell
American, 1862-1938
Mercie in Room Interior
Oil on canvas
37 x 27 inches
Provenance:
Mercie Tarbell Clay
By descent to Mary Tarbell Schaffer
Tarbell Clay Hoes
Thence by descent to the current owner
A large body of Tarbell's work is devoted to paintings of his family, especially of his wife and daughters. Many of these show the ladies in white dresses in the sun-drenched outdoors, seemingly floating on air. By contrast, this portrait of Tarbell's daughter Mercie presents her in a fancy gown lavishly trimmed in shades of red and pink, seated on a large, overstuffed red sofa. Lit by an unseen window to her left, the young woman faces the viewer straight on, but instead of looking out, appears lost in thought. While the lower half of the painting is dominated by the intense ruby color of the sofa and the varied red accents of Mercie's dress, the upper register is almost entirely cloaked in shadow. To the left, an alcove recedes suddenly into darkness; on the upper wall to the right, deep shadows obscure the contours of the room and the painting hanging there. The result of this counter-play of intense, high-keyed color and pervasive darkness is an intensely charged painting of a sphinxlike young woman, who seems to contain within her a cauldron of intense emotion.
Edmund Charles Tarbell
American, 1862-1938
Mercie in Room Interior
Oil on canvas
37 x 27 inches
Provenance:
Mercie Tarbell Clay
By descent to Mary Tarbell Schaffer
Tarbell Clay Hoes
Thence by descent to the current owner
A large body of Tarbell's work is devoted to paintings of his family, especially of his wife and daughters. Many of these show the ladies in white dresses in the sun-drenched outdoors, seemingly floating on air. By contrast, this portrait of Tarbell's daughter Mercie presents her in a fancy gown lavishly trimmed in shades of red and pink, seated on a large, overstuffed red sofa. Lit by an unseen window to her left, the young woman faces the viewer straight on, but instead of looking out, appears lost in thought. While the lower half of the painting is dominated by the intense ruby color of the sofa and the varied red accents of Mercie's dress, the upper register is almost entirely cloaked in shadow. To the left, an alcove recedes suddenly into darkness; on the upper wall to the right, deep shadows obscure the contours of the room and the painting hanging there. The result of this counter-play of intense, high-keyed color and pervasive darkness is an intensely charged painting of a sphinxlike young woman, who seems to contain within her a cauldron of intense emotion.
Wax relined.
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Auction: European, American, Modern & Contemporary Art, Nov 13, 2012
