Yellow Tulips

Maker(s)
Artist: Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938)
Historical period(s)
1908
Medium
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
H x W: 50.8 x 40.3 cm (20 x 15 7/8 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1908.27a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Oil painting

Keywords
model, tulip, United States, woman
Provenance

From 1908 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Thomas Wilmer Dewing in April 1908 [1]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file and Curatorial Remarks.

[2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Thomas Wilmer Dewing (C.L. Freer source) 1851-1938
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

After the turn of the century, Dewing developed a theme he would render in endless variations: a woman alone in a quiet, uncluttered room. Like James McNeill Whistler, Dewing selected a color scheme for each painting and carefully arranged the elements of the composition to create a contemplative mood. To emphasize the formal qualities of the paintings, he gave them titles that refer to aesthetic props in the pictures--here, yellow tulips.

Published References
  • Susan Hobbs. Thomas Wilmer Dewing: Beauty into Art: A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven, CT, November 13, 2018. pg 454, pl 227.
  • et al. Ten American Painters. Exh. cat. New York, May 8 - June 9, 1990. fig. 55.
  • Second Exhibition: Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists. Exh. cat. Washington, December 8, 1908 - January 17, 1909. no. 99.
  • Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. Academy Notes. Buffalo, July 1911. pp. 76, 81.
  • Melody Barnett Deusner. Aesthetic Painting in Britain and America: Collectors, Art Worlds, Networks. London, England, November 17, 2020. p. 209, fig. 100.
  • The Colonial Revival in America. New York. p. 246, fig. 2.
  • Nelson C. White. The Art of Thomas W. Dewing. vol. 27, no. 6 Washington, June 1929. p. 256.
  • Royal Cortissoz. An American Artist Canonized in the Freer Gallery. vol. LXXIV, November 1923. p. 542.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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