The Art of Protest

 Every so often I take a day off.

~ Happy Presidents' Day

"Hang On To Your Hat"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

In between painting the show pieces, I painted this study thinking I'd do a trio of women viewing women - but then I got caught up in a John Singer Sargent piece that is one of my absolutely favorite works of art titled Smoke of Ambergris.  For now, I thought I'd put this small one on auction and revisit the idea in the future.

Featured is Edmund Tarbell's Preparing for the Matinee - one of those mouthwatering portraits done in the early 20th century.  The woman is Charlotte Barton of Boston, dressing up to go to the theater, with the most elegant tones and beautiful, subtle details to make one stop and study.

Tarbell was born in Massachusetts, interested in painting the lives of women in both interior and outdoor settings.  Tarbell was one of the Ten American Painters, a group formed in 1898, including the artists Childe Hassam, Frank Benson, Thomas Dewing, William Merritt Chase to name a few.  They exhibited as a group in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and beyond.