Girl with Lute

Object Details

• Artist

  Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938)

• Label

  Girl with Lute is a typical work from the late period of Dewing's career, when he often depicted a single figure seated in an interior and playing a musical instrument. Such compositions perpetuate the long established association of art and music.

  The model is distant from the viewer, pinned into a precise composition of receding diagonal lines established by the rich carpet and the exotic instrument. Dewing is indebted to the French 18th century painter Jean-Antoine Watteau, whose women often hold musical instruments similar to the one seen here. Dewing softens the dynamism of these lines with suffused light and a neutral background, bathing his subject in an evocative glow.

• Provenance

  From 1905 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Thomas Wilmer Dewing on January 18, 1905 [1]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Object file.

  [2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Dewing’s Poetic World (November 27, 2019 to May 29, 2022)

  Art for Art's Sake (July 23, 1997 to January 24, 2008)

  Choice Spirits: Works by Thomas Dewing and Dwight Tryon (March 9, 1996 to July 7, 1997)

  American Art - Thomas Wilmer Dewing (May 9, 1993 to February 20, 1996)

  Thomas Wilmer Dewing (January 3, 1985 to May 7, 1985)

  American Painting: To Dream of Fair Women (September 24, 1982 to February 29, 1984)

  Thomas Wilmer Dewing (June 19, 1980 to March 18, 1981)

  American Paintings: Thomas Wilmer Dewing (December 11, 1976 to April 16, 1977)

  American Paintings (April 15, 1975 to December 5, 1975)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 8 and 9 (February 25, 1956 to April 28, 1958)

  Special Dewing Centennial Exhibition (May 17, 1951 to July 1, 1951)

  American Paintings, T.W. Dewing (May 2, 1923 to March 23, 1925)

  Exhibition of Paintings by T.W. Dewing, A.H. Thayer, D.W. Tryon, J.A.McNeill Whistler (February 10 to 26, 1910)

  The Society of American Artists Twenty-eighth Annual Exhibition (March 17 to April 22, 1906)

  101st Annual Exhibition (January 22, 1906 - March 03, 1906)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1900s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Dewing, Thomas Wilmer

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Children, Lute

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings