Lady in Yellow (Eleanor Reeves)
Artist
Susan Watkins
(American, 1875 - 1913)
CultureAmerican
Date1902
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions44 1/2 × 35 1/2 in. (113 × 90.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 58 × 47 1/4 × 2 3/4 in. (147.3 × 120 × 7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 58 × 47 1/4 × 2 3/4 in. (147.3 × 120 × 7 cm)
SignedSigned lower right: "Susan Watkins 1902"
Credit LineBequest of Goldsborough Serpell
Object number46.76.137
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. It is a full-length portrait of a woman (the artist's sister, Eleanor Reeves) seated on a settee and backed comfortably by four large pillows. Her left elbow rests on a large pillow and her head rests on her left hand, a closed white umbrella in her right. The room is filled with muted tones; the venetian blinds are closed giving only hints of the bright outdoor sunlight. Her face is quiet and reflective, and her yellow dress provides the bright focus of the painting. Closest to the viewer is a large triangle of yellow created by her skirt. Her hat, belt, gloves and drape are black creating a dramatic contrast to her bright yellow dress.Label TextSusan Watkins American, 1875–1913 Lady in Yellow (Eleanor Reeves), 1902 Oil on canvas After building an international reputation in Paris and New York, American painter Susan Watkins married her longtime suitor, Norfolk native Goldsborough Serpell, in 1912. The couple moved to Virginia, but the artist had already fallen ill and died the following year. Her husband later donated 62 works by Watkins to the Museum. Unlike John Singer Sargent and professional society portraitists of the day, Watkins concentrated on creating distinctive visual arrangements of light and color, using family and friends as models. Here her sister Eleanor poses in a shadowy interior wearing a brilliant yellow dress. Bequest of Goldsborough Serpell 46.76.137 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"Between Continents and Centuries: Susan Watkins, An American Artist Rediscovered," The Chrysler Museum at Seaboard Center, Norfolk, Va., December 16, 1985 - February 7, 1986. "National Association of Women Artists: One Hundred Years," Organized by Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y.; Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, N.Y., September 15 - November 4, 1990; Fred Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y., November 17 - December 16, 1990; Tyler Art Gallery, SUNY at Oswego, N.Y., February 24 - March 20, 1991; Art Museum, The Museums at Stony Brook, N.Y., April 7 - June 23, 1991; Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, N.Y., July 2 - August 18, 1991; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, N.Y., September 14 - October 27, 1991; Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, N.Y., December 1991 - January 1992; Edna Carlsten Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, Wis., March 22 - April 26, 1992; Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, Ohio, September 1 - September 30, 1992. "Women of Fashion: French and American Images of Leisure, 1880-1920," Daimaru Museum Umeda, Osaka, Japan, March 16 - March 28, 1994; Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, Japan, April 7 - April 19, 1994; Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan, April 29 - May 29, 1994. "The Gentle Modernist: The Art of Susan Watkins," Waitzer Community Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., May 15, 2002 - March 2003. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "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. "American Treasures at the Willoughby-Baylor House," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 2 - December 1, 2013. Published ReferencesJoyce M. Szabo, "Unravelling the Threads of a Lost Career," The Chrysler Museum Bulletin, 15, no. 12 (December 1985): 1. Joyce M. Szabo, Between Continents and Centuries: Susan Watkins, an American Artist Rediscovered, exhib. brochure, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1985, 1. The National Association of Women Artists: One Hundred Years (Stevens Point, Wis.: Carlsten Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 1992), 1. Gabriel P. Weisberg, Women of Fashion: French and American Images of Leisure, 1880-1920, exh. cat., Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 1994, 71, 166, no. 59. ISBN: 4900446130 Joyce M. Szabo, "Susan Watkins: Quiet Interiors And Complex Personalities," Woman's Art Journal 20, no. 2 (November 1999): 3-6, front cover. Chrysler Museum staff. "Gentle Modernist: The Art of Susan Watkins, 1875-1913," Traditional Fine Art Online, Inc., Resource Library Magazine, May 25, 2002. http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa279.htm. Jeff Harrison, "The Art of Susan Watkins, 1875-1913," American Art Review XV, No. 1(January/February 2003): 142-149, cover illustration. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 131-133, no. 82. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Inc. Prentice-Hall, Prentice Hall Literature: World Masterpieces Penguin Edition (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007), 1091. IBSN: 0-13-131737-7 Jeff Harrison, Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 66, fig. 72. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
Elisabeth Hase
