(Boston, Massachusetts, 1851 - 1938)
c. 1917
Oil on canvas
24 1/4 x 18 1/4 in. (61.7 x 46.5 cm)
Collection of the Akron Art Museum
Bequest of Edwin C. Shaw
1955.21
The sitter for this work was probably Gertrude MacNeill, a stage actress and one of Dewing’s favorite models. Dewing minimized details and developed subtle color harmonies to give this image an otherworldly quality. A friend of the artist observed that his paintings of women “are never portraits, but rather atmospheres created by Dewing…with all [parts] treated as of supreme importance—floors and walls seem as beautiful and painted with the same consideration as the chiffons of the gowns.”