American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists

We wish to thank Alice Duncan for her help researching this artwork and assistance with the following lot essay.

Provenance:

Sid Avery, Beverly Hills, California.

Vance Jordan Fine Art, New York, New York.

Property from a Private Collection.

Exhibited:

Paris, Georges Petit, Société Internationale de Peinture & Sculpture 13 Année Exposition, March 7 - April 5, 1895, one of nos. 8-11 (all entries are titled Étude), p. 6

Paris, Salon du Champ-de-Mars, April 25, 1895, one of nos. 21-25, numbered pamphlet.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Music hall and Art Gallery, The Two Hundred and Fourteenth Reception of The Art Society, Exhibition of Paintings and Compositions by John W. Alexander, December 9, 1895, no. 10 or no. 17, numbered checklist.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 65th Annual Exhibition, December 23, 1895 - February 22, 1896, p. 11, no. 7.

Stockholm, Allmänna konst-och industriutställningen (Exhibition of Arts and Industries), May 15 - October 1, 1897, p. 131, either no. 1364 or no. 1365.

New York, The National Arts Cub, John W. Alexander, Retrospective Exhibition, February 23 - March 17, 1909, no. 27.

Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by John W. Alexander, December 10, 1909 - January 10, 1910, no. 37, numbered checklist.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Department of Fine Arts, John White Alexander Memorial Exhibition, March 1916, p. 34, no. 61.

Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Institute of Arts, Memorial Exhibition of Painting by the Late John White Alexander, November 1916, no. 27.

Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Special Exhibitions, December 12, 1916 - January 2, 1917, p. 8, no. 25.

Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Museum, Memorial Exhibition of Work by John White Alexander 1856-1915, January 6 - 29, 1917, no. 25.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Art Museum, Memorial Exhibition of Works by John White Alexander 1856-1915, February 1917, no. 58.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by John White Alexander, March 1917, no. 20.

St. Louis, Missouri, City Art Museum, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by John White Alexander, April 8, 1917, no. 24.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs Art Society, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by the late John White Alexander, May 6, 1917, no. 24.

Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, Special Exhibitions, June 29 - August 26, 1917, no. 22.

Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, Special Exhibitions, September 1917, no 172.

Rochester, New York, The Memorial Art Gallery, John White Alexander Memorial Exhibition, October 1917, no. 22.

Providence, Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by John White Alexander, November 8 - 29, 1917, no. 22.

New York, James Graham & Sons, John White Alexander (1856-1915): Fin de Siècle American, October 21 - December 13, 1980, p. 26, no. 9.

Literature:

L'Art Français, March 1895.

Ernst, La Paix, March 8, 1895.

Gustave Goetschy, Le Matin, International, Paris, March 19, 1895.

T.H. Dae, Le Monde, March 25, 1895.

Boston Herald, undated, JWA Archives, scrapbook, 1895-1900, box 17, folder 2, frame 7.

"Our Artists Abroad," Boston Journal, April 21, 1895.

Boston Advertiser, April 21, 1895.

New York Sun, April 21, 1895.

Kansas City Star, April 21, 1895.

Heurert, République Française, May 17, 1895.

St. James Budget, May 17, 1895.

Micaud, Revue Française, May 1895.

M. Guyon, Journal des Artistes, July 5, 1895.

"The Fine Arts," Philadelphia Telegram, January 11, 1896.

"The Academy Exhibition-Alexander's Portraits-The Black-and-white Exhibit and Sculptures," The Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia, January 11, 1896.

"John White Alexander, Portrait-Painter, Decorator, Illustrator," The Critic, vol. 35, no. 865, July 1899, p. 612.

John W. Alexander, Retrospective Exhibition, The National Arts Club, February 23-March 17, 1909, numbered checklist.

Herman Bloch, "The Alexander Exhibition," New York Call, February 26, 1909.

"J.W. Alexander, Artist, is Dead," New York Tribune, June 2, 1915.

"John W. Alexander," Rochester Post, June 5, 1915.

Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by the Late John W. Alexander Held under the Auspices of The American Federation of Arts, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, May 6-21, 1916, numbered checklist.

Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by the Late John White Alexander, Detroit Institute of Arts, November 1916.

"John White Alexander Memorial Exhibition, Carnegie Institute," American Art Annual, vol. XIII, 1916, illus., before p. 256.

"Past Exhibitions," The Art Quarterly, Milwaukee Art Institute, April 1917, p. 6, no. 7, illus.

Pierre Sanchez, Les Expositions de la Galerie Georges Petit (1881-1934): repetoire des artistes et liste de leurs oeuvres, vol. 3, Dijon, 2011, p. 159.

Mary Anne Goley, John White Alexander, An American Artist in the Gilded Age, London, 2018, p. 81.

Gerald Peters Gallery, Defining Beauty: American Art from a Private Collection, New York, pp. 6-9, illus.

Note:

According to Mary Anne Goley (author of the catalogue raisonné on Alexander) in 1909 there would have been two possible choices for a painting titled Reflections belonging to the artist available for exhibition. In 1916, this Reflections appears in a photograph of works in the touring memorial exhibit (Cleveland Museum of Art, Registrar's Files). Given that Elizabeth Alexander's notes uses descriptions such as Woman Reading and Interior, Bess Reading, in addition to Reflections, the assumption is that the touring picture was reassigned the title Reflections.

The apparently lined canvas in fair to good overall condition. Under UV light, we notice areas of old, green varnish, largely confined to upper one-half of painting, along edges/in corners (collecting over and around light abrasions), in sofa and in foreground. Passages of inpainting throughout, noticeably along left edge of mirror, around/adjacent to figure's head, and in largest proportion of her clothes (from waist down). Painting is otherwise stable and presents well. Additional images available upon request.

Framed: 49 x 31 x 3 in.

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