The Yellow Coach

DateProbably 1815-1835

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions33 5/8" x 36 1/8" (85.4 cm. x 91.8 cm.) unframed; 41 1/4" x 44" framed.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1932.101.3

DescriptionYellow-painted, oval-shaped coach drawn by two white horses occupies most of the right half of the composition and moves to the right, out of the picture plane. A coachman sits on the front seat and holds a whip above the horses. The coach is empty with its side shades rolled up, forming a scalloped edging beneath the roofline. In the left half of the composition, a white-painted house with a grey, hipped roof sits in front of a long line of trees receding to left. The building has four chimneys, a scalloped grey edging beneath the roofline; a small, columned porch on the front, and a marbleized door on the side. Various greenery occupies the foreground.
Period replacement 4 1/4-inch splayed gold-leafed frame with flat outer edge.
Label TextThe body of the vehicle provides an eye-catching spot of color, and the composition is effectively balanced by the bulk of the house set in a grove of trees. Swift motion is indicated by the tasseled handgrips that fly out behind the coach and by the horses' galloping postures. Yet one wonders why the vehicle departs so hastily without an occupant.
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. Elie Nadelman, Riverdale, NY; Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; Given to C. W. by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.