4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2009.

Waiting for William

Artist John George Brown (American, 1831-1913)

CultureAmerican

Date1879

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 45 x 36 in. (114.3 x 91.4 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower right:; J. G. Brown N.A.; 1879

Credit LineGift of the Mowbray Arch Society

Object number98.23

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis 19th-century American genre painting depicts a well-dressed young woman who sits alone on a empty beach, near the water's edge. Sitting slouched on a wooden support, she gazes out to sea, perhaps with thoughts of the William in the title of the painting. The point of her parasol rests between two L's of William's name, which she has written in the sand. She is dressed in a very fine white dress with a pale yellow shawl and barely holds the matching yellow parasol with her right hand.

Label TextJohn George Brown American, 1831–1913 Waiting for William, 1879 Oil on canvas Hope, fear, sadness, and affection—such complex emotions bring life to this young woman’s face as she dreams of a loved one far away. This painting by John George Brown depicting a fancily dressed young woman gazing longingly out to sea leaves much to the imagination. It also borrows from the popular culture of the Victorian period, for the melancholic theme of the woman faithfully waiting by the sea was a staple of late nineteenth-century sentimental poetry and parlor songs. Gift of the Mowbray Arch Society 98.23ProvenancePrivate collection, New York; Spanierman Gallery; Gift of the Mowbray Arch Society to Chrysler Museum of Art, 1998. Exhibition History"Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. "American Treasures at the Willoughby-Baylor House," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 2 - December 1, 2013. Published ReferencesMartha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 96-97, no. 57. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 66, fig. 71. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1 American Psychiatric Association, _Psychiatric Services: A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association_ Vol.58 No. 7 (July 2007) Cover. ISSN: 1075-2730 Martha Hoppin, _The World of J.G. Brown_, (Chesterfield, MA: Chameleon Books, 2010), 106.