The Green Dress

John White Alexander (American, 1856-1915) - The Green Dress, c.1890-99 (Oil on canvas) - - Alexander’s many depictions of beautiful women were colored by his susceptibility to the prevailing Art Nouveau, an elaborately decorative style that emphasizes the use of sinuous and sensuous contours. Alexander’s work was also touched by the prevailing vogue for symbolism, the visual evocation of an idea, of an emotion through the association of analogous qualities.

 

Le héron familier

Vincente Capobianchi (Italian, active 1870-80) - Le héron familier, 1877 (Oil on panel) - - The elegantly dressed ladies are reading while enjoying a leisurely afternoon in a lush garden, unaffected by the tempestuous scene of violence and passion carved into the stone below them. Capobianchi has sourced a Roman marble sarcophagus, depicting a battle scene between the Greeks and the Amazons. In the center of the panel, the Amazon Queen Penthesilea expires in the arms of Achilles; he fell in love with her as he was dealing her death blow.

 

A Quiet Moment

Maria R. Dixon (American,1849-1897) - A Quiet Moment, 1896 (Oil on canvas) - - An 1894 issue of The Quarterly Illustrator, features an illustration of a teenage girl titled That Daughter of Mine, which depicts Tillie, her daughter who served as Dixon’s favorite model for many years. Tillie’s delicate features and strong square jawline can also be seen in Dixon’s painting, A Quiet Corner, as well as in this similar work, A Quiet Moment.