The 1830 Girl (Portrait of Miss M. P. in Louis Philippe Costume)
Artist
Susan Watkins
(American, 1875 - 1913)
CultureAmerican
Date1900
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions44 × 30 3/4 in. (111.8 × 78.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 59 3/8 × 47 1/2 × 5 in. (150.8 × 120.7 × 12.7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 59 3/8 × 47 1/2 × 5 in. (150.8 × 120.7 × 12.7 cm)
InscribedSigned lower right: Susan Watkins
Credit LineBequest of Goldsborough Serpell
Object number46.76.147
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 218
Label TextSusan Watkins American (1875-1913) The 1830 Girl (Portrait of Miss M.P. in Louis Philippe Costume), 1900 Oil on canvas Goldsborough Serpell Bequest 46.76.147 Watkins emerged from her study with Raphael Collin as a gifted interpreter of the human form, and in 1899 she began to exhibit figure pieces-both portraits and scenes of everyday life-at the Paris Salon. Among the most successful of these early works was The 1830 Girl, which won a third-class gold medal at the 1901 Salon. Wearing the elaborately feathered bonnet and gauzy evening wrap fashionable during the reign of King Louis Philippe (r. 1830-1848), the subject here reflects Watkins' early interest in "historical portraiture"-romantic, fancy-dress images that nostalgically evoke an earlier age. The painting also reveals her gifts as a colorist. The sitter's pale flesh and gown-a medley of cream and ivory hues brushed with pink and green-are dramatically set against a dark background. The 1830 Girl secured Watkins' reputation in Paris and the United States, where it went on to win a silver medal in Saint Louis at the 1904 Universal Exposition Commemorating the Acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase. 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 HistoryParis Salon, France, 1901. Received third-class gold medal. Art Institute Chicago, Ill., 1901. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Pa., 1902. National Academy of Design, 1902. Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 1905. Received silver medal. "Between Continents and Centuries: Susan Watkins, An American Artist Rediscovered," The Chrysler Museum at Seaboard Center, Norfolk, Va., December 16, 1985 - February 7, 1986. "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. "By Popular Demand: Your Selections, Your Gallery," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, May 10 - August 31, 2014.Published ReferencesSt. Louis Universal Exposition Official Handbook, 1904, p. 332. James P. Donahue, "California Girl Wins Art Prize, March 27, 1910," San Francisco newspaper clipping. "News and Notes of the Art World," _New York Sunday Times_, May 8, 1910. Illustrated in The Exhibition of the Women's Art Club at the Macbeth Galleries. Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences _Bulletin_ 10, no. 4 (May 1960). Joyce M. Szabo, _Between Continents and Centuries: Susan Watkins, An American Artist Rediscovered_, exhib. brochure, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1985. Joyce M. Szabo, "Susan Watkins: Quiet Interiors And Complex Personalities," _Woman's Art Journal_ 20, no. 2 (November 1999): 3-6. Jefferson C. Harrison, "The Art of Susan Watkins, 1875-1913," _American Art Review_ 15, no. 1 (January/February 2003): 142-149. 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, no. 81. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6
