William Penhallow Henderson

(American, 1877-1943)

Portrait of Ms. Roy McWilliams, c. 1910-15

oil on canvas

inscribed (on the stretcher)

24 x 18 in.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

The present lot bears an inscription on the stretcher stating that it has been authenticated by the artist's daughter, Alice Henderson Rossin.

Provenance:

Estate of the Artist

(possibly) Owings Dewey Gallery, Santa Fe.

Private Collection, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Private Collection, Santa Fe, by descent.

Lot Essay:

Mrs. Elizabeth McWilliams (née Beldon) of Lake Bluff, IL, was a society figure in Chicago and Lake Bluff, Illinois. She was also involved in the suffrage movement of the early 20th Century. She attended the University of Chicago and took landscape painting classes with William Penhallow Henderson. Along with the Dudley Sisters of Chicago, Mrs. McWilliams was known as one of the "three graces", of Chicago society.

Roy McWilliams, the sitter's husband, was an heir to one of the Marshall Field & Co. partners. He was an art patron, writer, teacher, and later lived in Bidart, France while serving as American Counsel at Biarritz between the World Wars.

The McWilliamses sponsored an exhibition of William Penhallow Henderson's paintings at the Durand Art Institute in Lake Forest during the summer of 1908. Roy also wrote music to accompany "Adams Dream", a 1910 series of three children's "miracle plays" written by Alice Corbin Henderson and illustrated with woodcuts by her husband William Penhallow Henderson.

William Penhallow Henderson (American, 1877-1943)

Portrait of Ms. Roy McWilliams, c. 1910-15

William Penhallow Henderson (American, 1877-1943)

Portrait of Ms. Roy McWilliams, c. 1910-15