Portrait of Goldsborough Serpell at Capri
Artist
Susan Watkins
(American, 1875 - 1913)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1906
MediumOil paint on board
Dimensions10 11/16 × 7 3/8 × 1/8 in. (27.1 × 18.7 × 0.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 13 1/4 × 10 1/8 in. (33.7 × 25.7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 13 1/4 × 10 1/8 in. (33.7 × 25.7 cm)
InscribedSigned "Ricardo di Ana Capri/Susan Watkins" lower right corner.
Credit LineBequest of Goldsborough Serpell
Object number46.76.149
Not on view
DescriptionOil sketch depicting Goldsborough Serpell at Capri.Label TextSusan Watkins American (1875-1913) Portrait of Goldsborough Serpell at Capri, ca. 1906 Oil on board Goldsborough Serpell Bequest 46.76.149 Goldsborough Serpell of Norfolk (1875-1946) met Watkins early in her career and became a lifelong admirer and determined suitor who courted her in Europe. Financially independent in her own right, Watkins for years rejected the prospect of marriage and focused instead on establishing herself as a professional painter. It was not until January 1912 that Watkins, her health failing, consented to marry Serpell. Watkins painted this intimate, half-length image of her ardent friend during their 1906 trip to the island of Capri, near Naples. She depicts the thirty-one-year-old Serpell in a leafy glade, his face, summer suit, and Panama hat framed by sun-dappled foliage. ProvenanceThe artist, Susan Watkins Serpell, bequeathed to her husband, Goldsborough Serpell, 1913; Bequest of Goldsborough Serpell to the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1946; Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences transferred to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"The Gentle Modernist: The Art of Susan Watkins," Waitzer Community Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., May 15, 2002 - March 2003. "Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010.
