Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Ed Pollard-2008.

Portrait of Lucy Lee-Robbins

Artist Emile Auguste Carolus-Duran (French, 1838-1917)

CultureFrench

Date1884

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions66 3/4 x 48 in. (169.5 x 121.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 80 5/8 x 63 1/4 x 3 3/8 in. (204.8 x 160.7 x 8.6 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated "1884".

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.627

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 218

DescriptionThis is a large oil on canvas painting of a seated woman. She is dressed in fine black cloth, with a small hint of red underneath. Her dress is tightly fitted at the waist with puffed elbow length sleeves. The square neckline is adorned with lace, as are the sleeves. The ankle of her left foot is exposed, showing her black stockings and patent leather black shoes. She sits in a duskily painted blue chair in a room with a gray curtain as the background. There is a dusty blue image of a carpet on the floor. On her left arm she wears a thick gold chain bracelet. Her head is tilted to her left and her expression holds a slight smile. The deep red of her lips and pale pink blush of her cheeks is subdued. She holds a pink flower in her lap and one pink petal has fallen to the colorless floor.

Label TextEmile Auguste Carolus-Duran French, 1838–1917 Portrait of Lucy Lee-Robbins, 1884 Oil on canvas Try tilting your head as far to the side as this sitter. The flamboyant gesture is hard to hold for long, suggesting Lucy Lee-Robbins’ unconventional spirit. Born in America, Lee-Robins moved from New York to France when she was an infant. Determined to become a painter, she enrolled in a private art school run by Carolus-Duran in 1880. His portrait of Lee-Robins radiates a confident informality rarely seen in grand portraits at the time. The pose, direct gaze, and subtle details—like the glimpse of red lining, an extended ankle, and a fallen pink flower petal—convey the energy and self-assurance of this independent young woman. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.627 Exhibition History"The Controversial Century, 1850-1950, Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Provincetown, MA, June 16 - Sept. 3, 1962; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Sept. 28 - Nov. 4, 1962. (Exh. cat. not paged). "High Society: Portraits of the American Gilded Age," Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, Germany, June 7 - August 31, 2008. Published ReferencesCharles F. Comfort and William S.A. Dale, _The Controversial Century: 1850-1950_, exh. cat., Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Provincetown, Mass., 1962 Brandon Brame Fortune, "Not above Reproach, the Career of Lucy Lee-Robbins," _American Art_. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1998, 40-65 Westheider, Ortrud and Michael Philipp, High Society: American Portraits of the Gilded Age, exh. cat., Hamburg: Bucerius Kunst Forum Publications, 2008, p. 113