56

HELEN MARIA TURNER
American (1858-1958)
"The Italian Girl"
oil on canvas laid down on fiberboard, signed, dated and inscribed lower left "Helen M. Turner, N.Y. 1921"
30 1/2 x 25 1/4 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, New York.

Other Notes: A Painters and Sculptors Gallery Assoc., New York, New York label is on the reverse.

Tags: portrait, American Impressionism, female artist, woman artist, 20th century

Lot 56 The Italian Girl beautifully elicits in the viewer a response to the human face in all its allure and particularly the eyes as a window to the 'soul.' No matter how lovely the wallpaper in the background, the jewel-toned fabrics draped on the round table, this young girl's face eclipses all of it, drawing us in with her soft gaze and the hint of an active inner life. Turner masterfully uses the play of light on her subject's face to create this simple yet stunning moment of clarity.

Turner's portraits of women have become icons of American Art. While in New York Turner studied with Kenyon Cox, Douglas Volk, and Arthur Wesley Dow. She travelled to Europe three times with William Merritt Chase. Paving the way as a female artist in male-dominated field, she was able to achieve tremendous success during her life. In 1914, the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased on of her portraits propelling her career forward. By 1927, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta hosted a retrospective of her work.

Turner left her New York City studio and home in 1942 and returned to New Orleans for the final years of her life. She painted sporadically and less frequently as the years passed due to her failing eyesight. In 1949, her final painting was a salute to Cragsmoor titled The Mountain, a depiction of the rolling hills and farms surrounding the Colony. Helen Maria Turner died just short of her hundredth year on January 31, 1958.

Turner's works are included in collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the New York Historical Society, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Phillips Collection, and numerous other public and private collections. The Hermitage Museum and Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia holds the largest collection of her work.


  • Condition: Canvas: Not Applicable
    Condition: Very Good
    Restoration: Very Minor/Minor
    Frame: Period
    Comments:
    Contact the gallery for further information.

    Framed dimensions - 41 1/2 x 36 x 2 1/4 inches


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