Folk Art Portrait Of Two Sisters With Red Shoes
Probably Western Massachusetts
Watercolor on paper with gold foil appliques and pin-pricked detail mounted in an appropriate and period frame, painted red. (Frame is not original to the work.) While the use of gold foil is not unique in stylistically naive forms of portraiture it was not a commonly used technique. It was occasionally employed as a design element by both Ruth W. and Dr. Samuel Schute and Ruth Henshaw Bascom. However, the artist who created this portrait of the "Sisters" has also employed a pin-pricking technique on the collars to simulate the appearance of lace and employed a landscape background albeit the grassy area that shows their tiny feet with the red shoes off beautifully. The tiny feet are a very desirable element of naive folk art and much appreciated by collectors.
Depicted are older and younger sisters, each holding a red book and wearing a gold foil brooch; the older sister is wearing a comb in her hair and their lace collars are done in pinprick decoration.
This is the only recorded full-length example by this yet to be identified artist; the other recorded works are half-length portraits of subjects depicted in landscapes. In addition to the modeling and technical details in this group is the use of foil appliques and pinpricked details.
See American Folk Portraits, Paintings and Drawings from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center (Number 223.) for related examples. In fine condition with minor repairs to edges. (Height: 10 7/8-inches; width: 8 7/8-inches and 9" x 7" sight) Fabulous Folk Art! Ex: Don and Mary Walters.
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