Mrs. Watkins (The Artist's Mother)
Artist
Susan Watkins
(American, 1875 - 1913)
CultureAmerican
Date1900
MediumCrayon and charcoal on paper
Dimensions29 × 21 1/4 in. (73.7 × 54 cm)
Overall, Frame: 37 5/8 × 29 1/8 × 1 3/4 in. (95.6 × 74 × 4.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 37 5/8 × 29 1/8 × 1 3/4 in. (95.6 × 74 × 4.4 cm)
Inscribed"SUSAN WATKINS 1900" lower right corner
Credit LineBequest of Goldsborough Serpell
Object number46.76.163
Not on view
DescriptionCharcoal crayon drawing of the artist's mother, Mrs. Watkins. She is shown seated in an armchair that is pointed to the left. Her hair is up and she has a light-colored shawl around the shoulders of her dark dress.Label TextSusan Watkins American (1875-1913) Mrs. Watkins (The Artist's Mother), 1900 Crayon on paper Bequest of Goldsborough Serpell 46.76.163 Susan Watkins was born into a prominent California family. Her father, James T. Watkins, moved them to New York in 1890 to become an editorialist for the New York Sun. At his death, Watkins' mother, Susan Ella Owens Watkins, became her sole guardian and protector, and as such exerted considerable influence over her later life. When Watkins decided to leave New York to continue her artistic studies in Paris, Mrs. Watkins-like many mothers of upper-class American women artists then heading for France-accompanied her as her chaperone. They lived together in Europe for the next fourteen years. Watkins made this drawing of her mother in Paris in 1900. The presentation is remarkably formal, the mood, cool and reserved. Seated in a massive armchair whose profile placement distances her emotionally from the viewer, Mrs. Watkins turns her head to gaze at us, her expression conveying quiet strength and a sense of protective watchfulness. 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"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.
