Cut Profile of a Woman

Date1830-1835

MediumWatercolor on cut wove paper with black pulpboard backing

Dimensions4" x 3 1/8" (10.2 cm x 7.9 cm) unframed; Framed: 5 3/16" x 4 3/8" excluding wire hanging hook.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1976.306.4

DescriptionThe original 1/2-inch wood frame has a stamped brass foil cover with an oval aperature; it is clinched into grooves worked into all four frame members.
Label TextSee also the companion portrait, 1976.306.3. The intriguing abstract shapes of the sitters' bodies make the two an especially appealing pair of profiles. The rapid brushstrokes suggesting the elaborate folds and curves of the woman's dress add a decorative touch, while the images' bold, simplified designs and largely monochromatic coloring produce greater visual impact than many other similar but more realistically rendered small-scale likenesses. Consequently, the relatively inept hollow-cutting of the heads becomes less noticeable and less objectionable. Pale red stripes alternate with gray in the man's waistcoat, and his hands are a warm flesh tone. Otherwise, different tonalities have been produced by dilutions of the artist's basic black watercolor.

MarkingsNone found on the primary support. Part of a printed card for the Cortland, New York, Business Institute has been used as backing for both this portait and its companion (1976.306.3).
ProvenanceHillary Underwood, Woodstock, Vt.